A video clip of US President Donald Trump's Monday attempt to praise Qatar's efforts in the Gaza ceasefire deal went viral recently.
Talking to journalists aboard the Air Force One before his arrival in Israel's Ben Gurion airport today, Trump praised the Emir of Qatar and tried to explain the country's "tough and dangerous" situation.
He first called Qatar's Emir, Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, an "amazing man", praising his "tremendous" help with the ceasefire deal.
He then claimed Qatar was placed in "right in the middle" of an "unbelievably hostile" geographical territory.
"They’re literally, you walk over from Iran to Qatar. You can walk it in one second. You go ‘boom boom’, and now you’re in Qatar, that’s tough territory," he added in the viral clip.
Netizens—even journalists online—soon pounced on the geography gaffe, because Qatar and Iran do not share a land border, with the flights between them typically taking 1-2 hours. Google Maps shows the land distance between the two countries as 820km, passing through the borders of various countries.
"One of those odd moments where Trump offers highly specific & totally inaccurate info about something no one asked him about," a Washington Post journalist wrote on X.
"Google maps can't calculate it, but given it shows a 10 hour car ride, it would seem to involve at least several marathons," another user quipped on X.
"I guess if you ignore the massive body of water in between them then sure," a third user pointed out on X.