'Finland Part Of Russia?' How US Presidents Perplex World With Geography, History Gaffes

Though President Donald Trump sees a memoir of his former top security adviser John Bolton as nothing but "lies and fake stories" made up by an "incompetent" and "disgruntled" fired official, the first excerpts from the book have already made headlines, including those concerning Trump allegedly inquiring his aide whether Finland is a part of Russia

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2020) Though President Donald Trump sees a memoir of his former top security adviser John Bolton as nothing but "lies and fake stories" made up by an "incompetent" and "disgruntled" fired official, the first excerpts from the book have already made headlines, including those concerning Trump allegedly inquiring his aide whether Finland is a part of Russia.

According to US media that obtained the book before its official release, the memoir says Trump was also surprised to find out that the UK was a nuclear power, did not want to give military aid to Ukraine and sought Chinese President Xi Jinping's help to win reelection.

The US administration has already filed a lawsuit against Bolton to prevent publication of his book which it says contains certain classified information about current events and policy issues. The release of the scandalous book "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir" is slated for June 23.

Sputnik, meanwhile, decided to recall a number of geography and history bloopers and slips of tongue made by Trump and other US presidents and senior officials.

At a rally in Atlanta back in 2016, then-presidential candidate Trump raised eyebrows by saying: "Belgium is a beautiful city."

During a trip to the bushfire-hit town of Paradise in the state of California in 2018, Trump repeatedly called Paradise "Pleasure."

"And you're watching from New York or you're watching from Washington, D.C. and you don't really see the gravity of it ... until you come here. And what we saw at Pleasure - what a name Pleasure - right now," Trump said.

Though somebody corrected him, saying that it was Paradise, not Pleasure, the president soon forgot it and kept referring to the affected town as "Pleasure."

The president at times has also mispronounced Names of countries. At a lunch with African leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in 2017, he referred to Namibia as "Nambia.

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Trump once jokingly admitted that before becoming the president, he "never knew we had so many countries."

In 2018, the CNN reported, citing sources, that Trump in a heated call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau amid a row over metal tariffs said: "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?" referring to the War of 1812. In reality, these were British troops that burnt down the US presidential residence, while Canada, a former colony, was granted the right to self-government only 55 years later.

It is, however, ex-President George W. Bush Jr. who is considered the world champion gaffe-maker. During his visit to Sweden in 2001, he called Africa a "nation that suffers from incredible disease." Back then, the administration noted that people do misspeak themselves.

President Bush also confused Australia with Austria, while talking about the former's troops fighting in Iraq. He also mistook APEC for OPEC, and so on.

His successor, Barack Obama, also made a number of "geographical discoveries," while competing for the top office.

"Over the last 15 months, we've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been in 57 states? I think one left to go," Obama, then-presidential candidate, said in 2008.

Addressing the US-Africa business Summit in 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden asserted that "there is no reason the nation of Africa cannot and should not join the ranks of the world's most prosperous nations."

His predecessor, Dick Cheney, confused Peru with Venezuela. While berating then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a foreign policy speech, Cheney said that "the people of Peru deserve better."

Sarah Palin, who was the running mate of John McCain in the 2008 presidential race, made a humorous slip of the tongue in a radio show in 2010.

"Obviously, we've got to stand with our North Korean allies - we're bound to by treaty," she said.