The alleged blunders were mentioned as part of a larger report by the political outlet that stated there have been multiple instances where Trump, 72, was eager to call Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, but didn’t consider it was the middle of the night in the Asian country.<doc-sep>Donald Trump Washington: US President Donald Trump apparently has a lot to learn when it comes to understanding diplomatic nuances. For instance, how to pronounce the names of several Asian countries, such as Nepal and Bhutan. According to a report by Politico, sources said that President Trump once pronounced Nepal as “Nipple” and Bhutan as “Button.” In fact, the President even seemed to be surprised that the countries exited and were not a part of India, Politico reported, quoting two sources. As per the report, the incident took place in 2017, when the President was studying a briefer’s map of South Asia ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He “laughingly referred” to Bhutan as ‘Button’ and mispronounced Nepal as ‘Nipple’, the report stated quoting the two unnamed sources. “He didn’t know what those were. He thought it was all part of India. “He was like, ‘What is this stuff in between and these other countries?” a source said, according to Politico, reported Washington Post. However, a White House official told Politico that others present at that meeting do not recall Trump making such statements and that he had asked appropriate questions only. Incidentally, as per the Politico report, Trump also supposedly cracked a joke at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s marital status after learning that he was estranged from his wife. The report stated that in 2017, Trump had asked his national security aides if PM Modi would be bringing his wife along to the White House, but was informed that would not be the case. The two sources told Politico that upon learning this, Trump jokingly said, “Ah, I think I can set him up with somebody.” It was in the same meeting when Trump had reportedly mispronounced the names of Nepal and Bhuton, which border India. Earlier, Trump had stoked controversy after he had termed several African nations, including Haiti and El Salvador, as “shithole countries.” Last month, Trump had branded the European Union as the “foe” of America.<doc-sep>A new report suggests that President Donald Trump may have appeared like a bumbling fool on the international stage because of his complete lack of foreign policy experience — on more than one occasion. A piece by Politico published on Monday contained a number of juicy reports regarding Trump's supposed stumbling over the correct pronunciation of several nations, his impulse to call other world leaders at inopportune hours and his general inability to avoid creating unnecessary international tension. Let's start with the issue of other countries' names: In one case, Trump, while studying a briefer’s map of South Asia ahead of a 2017 meeting with India’s prime minister, mispronounced Nepal as “nipple” and laughingly referred to Bhutan as “button,” according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting. Politico also reported that Trump's ignorance of the nations on the Asian subcontinent involved more than just their names. One person present at the same meeting when Trump reportedly mangled the pronunciations of Nepal and Bhutan commented that, "He didn’t know what those were. He thought it was all part of India.” The person familiar with the meeting said of the president: “He was like, ‘What is this stuff in between and these other countries?’" There was also this incident: Meeting with a group of African countries at the United Nations General Assembly last September, Trump, in public remarks, referred to the country of Namibia as “Nambia.” (Trump did impress some of his own aides in the meeting, however. “He did a very good job of saying Côte d'Ivoire,” said one.) Trump also reportedly struggles with understanding the concept of time zones, as he and his aides would frequently struggle over whether he should call foreign leaders at times that were convenient for Trump but decidedly less so (such as being during the early AM hours) for the executive counterpart in question. “He wasn’t great with recognizing that the leader of a country might be 80 or 85 years old and isn’t going to be awake or in the right place at 10:30 or 11 p.m. their time,” said a former Trump NSC official. “When he wants to call someone, he wants to call someone. He’s more impulsive that way. He doesn’t think about what time it is or who it is,” added a person close to Trump. In the case of Abe and others, Trump’s NSC staffers would advise him, for instance, that “the time is messed up, it’s 1 o’clock in the morning” and promise to put the call on his calendar for a more diplomatically appropriate time. Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster would assure him: “We can try to set it up.” While these incidents were potentially embarrassing, the more serious faux pas were those that could have actually raised tensions between either America and other countries or between two nations even though the United States is not directly involved in their conflict. READ MORE: Exclusive: Trump-endorsed radio show has promoted ex-CIA agent's call for right-wing rebellion For an example of the former, check out this comment in which Trump unintentionally reminded the leaders of some African nations about the specter of Western colonialism. Trump also raised eyebrows during the same gathering when he announced that “I have so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich. I congratulate you” — prompting cringes among some aides aware how such talk would resonate on a continent that well remembers the exploitations of its colonial era. (Some African entrepreneurs said they appreciated the comment.) And there was also this occasion when Trump stepped on a nerve in China-Japanese bilateral relations. Trump at times also betrays an ignorance of regional history and rivalries. During a meeting with Abe at Mar-a-Lago in April, Trump repeatedly praised Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to a former NSC official from a prior administration. “Everyone was cringing because Japan and China are rivals, and the Japanese and the Chinese are nervous about the president tilting too far towards the other side,” that person said. A White House official said Trump explained to Abe that his relationship with Xi would be useful in dealing with North Korea and insisted it “wasn’t considered a negative” by the Japanese side. As the Post article noted, these aren't the first times that Trump has been reported to have embarrassed himself on the international stage. Other occasions include using an Indian accent when talking about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, walking in front of Queen Elizabeth II during his visit to the United Kingdom and referring to Haiti and the nations of Africa as "shithole countries." The real question is, how much of this ought to be taken seriously? If one is inclined to be fair to Trump, it is perhaps not as big of a deal when he innocently mispronounces a name like "Bhutan" or "Namibia." As one White House official told Politico, Trump will sometimes avoid saying words, names or phrases that he is worried about mispronouncing, and it is the kind of error that even some of the best-informed and best-educated presidents in the world have made. Certainly, if no disrespect was intended and none was taken, those matters can be chalked up as ordinary faux pas. The same thing cannot be said, however, about the occasions when Trump is irresponsible (such as praising China in front of Japan's prime minister or using colonialist language when speaking to the nations of Africa) or deliberately offensive (such as referring to certain nations as "shithole countries" or mocking the accent of a foreign leader). These are precisely the types of mistakes that a president with actual foreign policy experience would have been trained to avoid; they contribute precisely nothing positive to our country and risk creating international turmoil that is not only unnecessary but entirely avoidable.<doc-sep>
Welcome to another day living under the Trump administration. According to a Politico report published on Monday, during a 2017 briefing to prep for a meeting with the prime minister of India, President Donald Trump called the country of Nepal "nipple" and laughed when he referred to the country of Bhutan as "button." Trump's cultural gaffe was confirmed by two sources with "knowledge of the meeting," per Politico. A White House representative told Politico that people present at the 2017 meeting "don't remember" the president's "nipple" remark. The report details Trump's "diplomatic faux pas" during his time in office, including the time he wanted to call Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the afternoon in Washington, D.C. — which was the middle of the night in Tokyo. As "a person close to Trump" told Politico: "When he wants to call someone, he wants to call someone. He's more impulsive that way. He doesn’t think about what time it is or who it is." The report also revealed Trump's painfully awkward comments during internal staff meetings. During a briefing before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2017 visit, Trump offered to "set him up with somebody" when he found out that Modi and his wife are estranged. During the same meeting, he was confused by Nepal and Bhutan's geographic locations between India and China. "He didn't know what those were," a source "familiar with the meeting" told Politico. "He was like, 'What is this stuff in between and these other countries?'" Trump's ignorant remarks aren't new — in January, the Washington Post reported that the president faked an Indian accent, imitating Modi. He also one referred to Haiti, El Salvador, and several African nations as "shithole countries." Knowing Trump's track record, is anyone really surprised by his comments?