Donald Trump thought Nepal and Bhutan were a part of India, the TIME magazine reported on Saturday, quoting unidentified US intelligence officials.
The US President’s latest factual inaccuracy came at a briefing he attended on South Asia, the magazine said.
The officials told the magazine that Trump pointed at a South Asia map and remarked that Nepal was a part of India. When told by officials that it was an independent country, he said Bhutan was in India.
Exchanges between Trump and his advisors have of late not been in news for the best of reasons. Two intelligence officers told TIME that Trump reacts angrily when his advisors disagree with him. The officers have reportedly said that officials have been told to avoid giving the President intelligence assessments that contradict his own position.
In the previous week, Trump had lashed out at US intelligence agencies in a tweet. Accusing them of being “passive and naïve” about Iran during a ‘World Threat Assessment’ report briefing, Trump said, “Perhaps intelligence should go back to school!”
Trump’s recent lesson in geography, however, does not end the tale of his unfamiliarity with South Asia. In August, Politico had reported that Trump mispronounced Nepal as “Nipple” and Bhutan as “Button” during a brief prior to meeting PM Modi in 2017.
NEWS 18.COM