How Are UK, Britain, England Different? Trump Confuses Names At Pennsylvania Rally

In a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Thursday, campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Lou Barletta ahead of 2018 mid-term elections, President Donald Trump talked about a range of issues ranging from the “Fake News” media, his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to his recent visit to the United Kingdom.

Although Trump claimed he had the utmost respect for one of America’s oldest allies, the name of the ally seemed to escape him.

"I have great respect for the U.K. United Kingdom,” he said. “Great respect. People call it Britain. They call it Great Britain. They used to call it England — different parts.”

And this was not the first time the president had fumbled when it came to displaying his knowledge about the U.K. He made a similar assertion while in England last month.

“They make phenomenal things, you know, and you have different names — you can say ‘England,’ you can say ‘U.K.,’ you can say ‘United Kingdom,’ so many different — you know you have, you have so many different names — Great Britain,” he told Mail Online. “I always say: ‘Which one do you prefer? Great Britain? You understand what I’m saying?”

When his gaffe was pointed out by interviewer Piers Morgan, Trump tried to brush it off. “Right, yeah. You know I know, but a lot of people don’t know that,” Trump responded. “But you have lots of different names.”

The official name of the U.K. is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. England, along with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom. Great Britain, or Britain, on the other hand, comprises of England, Scotland and Wales.

Going on to elaborate on his meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, which tabloids claimed Trump was running late to, the president said he was actually 15 minutes early because the secret service did not “believe in being late.”

“I'm waiting. I was about 15 minutes early and I'm waiting with my wife and that's fine. Hey, it's the Queen, right? We can wait. But I'm a little early. So, I then go up and meet the Queen and she is fantastic. We then go up and we have tea,” he said.

“And I didn't know this — it was supposed to last 15 minutes but it lasted like an hour. Because we got along… And she liked our first lady and our first lady liked her,” the president added.

When it comes to the correct use of names, even the U.S. Navy was criticized for referring to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in a statement by Capt. William Urban, chief spokesman for U.S. Central Command, while speaking about the massive naval drill being planned by Iran, which will demonstrate its shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

"We are aware of the increase in Iranian naval operations within the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman. We are monitoring it closely, and will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in international waterways," Urban told CNN.

Mocking the perceived mistake, Iranian Foreign Minister Zavad Zarif tweeted:

However, the criticism might not be warranted as the U.S. Navy had released a style guide — which is publicly available — in March last year, which clearly stated the term “Persian Gulf” will be replaced by “Arabian Gulf,” as per orders from Commander, Naval Forces Central Command U.S. 5th Fleet.