Trump’s lead envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Steve Witkoff, has had similar moments of confusion. In an interview in March, he could not name the regions over which the war is being fought. “These so-called four regions,” he said, struggling to recall them. “Donbas, Crimea... You know the names.”

P resident Trump asked an aide to dim the lights of the Oval Office, and then, with a line of reporters in the room, proceeded to ambush the leader of South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation watched in stunned silence at footage that Trump believed supported his claims that Ramaphosa’s government was turning a blind eye to violence against white Afrikaners.