--- description: "I met with the president of the Virgin Islands," Donald Trump. But he's the President of the U.S. territory title: Trump Says He Met With the President of the Virgin Islands. But That's Him image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55b0a245425d39f5/6988e1f286f68e4b3e6e6d99/trump-virgin-islands-president.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Trump Says He Met With the President of the Virgin Islands. But That's Him by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 13, 2017 10:00 PM CUT  U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the annual Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit at the Omni Shorham Hotel on October 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the annual Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit at the Omni Shorham Hotel on October 13, 2017 in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 13, 2017 10:00 PM CUT President Trump appeared to forget that the [U.S. Virgin Islands](http://time.com/money/4621621/virgin-islands-pay-tourists/ "undefined") falls under his jurisdiction during a speech Friday. “I met with the president of the Virgin Islands,” Trump said while speaking about a spate of [natural disasters](http://time.com/4981221/peanuts-charles-schultz-california-wildfires/ "undefined") that have hit the U.S. and its territories in recent weeks at the annual Values Voter Summit. Trump could not have spoken to the president of the Virgin Islands because the president is Trump himself, since it’s a U.S. territory. It appears Trump was referring to Kenneth Mapp, the governor of the Virgin Islands, whom the president met with on Oct. 3. Trump is the first sitting president to speak before the Values Voter Summit, a gathering of Christian conservatives and said he would be there for all affected U.S. citizens, who he insisted were “healing.” “They’re all healing. Their states and territories are healing and they’re healing rapidly,” he said. “In the wake of the terrible tragedies of the past several weeks, the American people have responded with goodness and generosity and bravery.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4982458/donald-trump-president-virgin-islands/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4982458/donald-trump-president-virgin-islands/"},"headline":"Trump Says He Met With the President of the Virgin Islands. But That's Him","datePublished":"2017-10-13T22:00:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:51:44.246Z","description":"He said he met with the Virgin Islands' \"president\"","url":"https://time.com/4982458/donald-trump-president-virgin-islands/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55b0a245425d39f5/6988e1f286f68e4b3e6e6d99/trump-virgin-islands-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55b0a245425d39f5/6988e1f286f68e4b3e6e6d99/trump-virgin-islands-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump, Conservative Leaders Address Value Voters Summit","caption":"President Trump, Conservative Leaders Address Value Voters Summit","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4982458/donald-trump-president-virgin-islands/","name":"Trump Says He Met With the President of the Virgin Islands. But That's Him"}}]}] ```