President Donald Trump said during a speech Friday that he had recently met with the president of the U.S. Virgin Islands _ which is technically him.
Trump, discussing his tour of hurricane-slammed parts of the U.S. at the Values Voter Summit, said "I met with the president of the Virgin Islands."
"These are people that are incredible people," he said at the Washington, D.C., speech.
While the U.S. territory's legislature does have a president, the commander in chief was likely referring to Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp, with whom Trump met earlier this month.
The White House's official transcript later corrected the line to indicate that Trump was referring to Mapp.
But it came just a day after Energy Secretary Rick Perry referred to Puerto Rico as its own country.
"That is a country that already had its challenges before this storm," Perry said during a congressional testimony about restoring power to the island.
That upset Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., who quickly noted: "It's America. They're American citizens, so it's not a country."
Perry clarified that he understood, and had just moments earlier referred to Puerto Rico as a territory.
The White House has been under fire for its response to Puerto Rico, where more than 80 percent of the island remains without power.
Trump, speaking Friday, pledged his support for areas pummeled by a marathon of hurricanes _ a day after noting federal relief efforts can't stay in Puerto Rico "forever."
