Headlines usually follow Donald Trump‘s flights on Air Force One. This time, nonetheless, the turbulence was in his geography rather than the air. Boiling doubts about the president’s cognitive ability resurfaced when he mistook a portion of the United States for an entirely distinct place before his highly publicized summit with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska.
In a typical tough-guy manner, Trump described his negotiating strategy in an interview with Fox News on the way to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson: “If it’s bad — if it’s something I don’t see a future in, I’m gone. I’ll leave. I don’t have to do a press conference, I’ll just say ‘Not going to be a deal, I’m out of here’ and I go back to the United States.”
There was only one minor issue — he was already in the US!
That seven-word blunder (“I go back to the United States”) has now sparked a round of criticism, teasing, and concern. It can be hard to overlook the fact that Alaska has been an American state since 1959, especially for a man who calls himself a “stable genius.”
Trump made a mistake at a very vulnerable moment. Though little real progress was made, both leaders later characterized the meeting as “productive.” He was on his way to meet Putin to discuss a potential ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine. The purpose of the optics was to represent leadership and its seriousness. Instead, people found out that Donald Trump is unaware of his state.
The reactions on social media were brutal. One user joked, “Adding President of the United States doesn’t know all of the States in the United States to the list of quotes showing the intellect if the ‘stable genius.’” “He’s never been good with maps,” another person added. A sharper note was struck by a third: “Obviously he still thinks Alaska is Russia.”
The mockery brought out a more serious problem: Donald Trump had previously made dubious claims or made geographic errors. Critics have long referred to his verbal mistakes and phases of confusion as proof of cognitive decline.
Though his supporters write off such blunders as being minor errors overblown by opponents.
If Donald Trump becomes completely incapacitated by full-blown dementia,… how will we be able to tell? pic.twitter.com/BPfJGuy5n5
— Roshan Rinaldi (@Roshan_Rinaldi) August 4, 2025
There were not many breakthroughs from the meeting with Putin himself. Although there was no agreement on Ukraine, both men praised “headway” and “progress.” Even Donald Trump acknowledged that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal” when he suggested holding a trilateral summit with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Putin, for his part, pointed to the tense relationship between the United States and Russia, warning that it was at its lowest point since the Cold War and that this was the first official summit in four years. He said that a face-to-face meeting had been “long overdue” and that “that’s not benefiting our countries and the world as a whole.”
Trump’s comment about “going back” to the United States overshadowed the summit’s real purpose. For a lot of people, it represented the absurdity of contemporary politics, where a single word can overshadow international diplomacy.
What a vile fucking joke. War criminal Vladimir Putin is strutting around on American soil – way too close to Canada. My gut’s churning. He should be rotting in a prison cell, or better yet, his head should be on a pike. And don’t get me started on the other motherfucker. pic.twitter.com/TzuqRD0jIG
— Canada Hates Trump (@AntiTrumpCanada) August 15, 2025
History suggests that Donald Trump is unlikely to offer an explanation or an apology.
Instead, he is likely to dismiss it as “fake news” or shift his focus to criticizing those who oppose him. Still, this instance is part of an increasing number of verbal faux pas that have raised concerns about whether the president’s mental state is declining.
President Donald Trump has a history of making controversial statements, whether it was conflating 9/11 with 7/11, confusing world leaders, or thinking out loud that injecting disinfectant could fight COVID-19. That archive now includes his Alaska slip.
As of right now, the blunder has given critics fodder, late-night comedians new material until they get taken off air, and the world yet another reason to question: how steady are his hands on the international stage if he can’t keep track of U.S. geography?
