Biden called Trump his vice president after calling Putin the president of Ukraine. Then he reminded voters to ‘listen to’ Trump.

President Joe Biden mixed up the names of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Vice President Donald Trump on Thursday night at the NATO summit. But Biden also flexed his experience working with foreign leaders and leaned into his accomplishments passing legislation and creating jobs.

Taking questions from reporters at the conclusion of the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., was part of an attempt to refute critics who have said Biden can’t perform off script after a disastrous debate. It was his first solo news conference since last fall.

But the event began nearly an hour late, as headlines surfaced about Biden mistakenly referencing Zelensky as “President Putin” earlier in the evening.

“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination,” Biden said on stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin!”

Biden began to walk away before quickly returning to the mic in a panic.

“President Putin? He could beat President Putin!” Biden said. “President Zelensky. I’m so focused on beating Putin, we gotta worry about it. Anyway.”

“I’m better,” Zelensky said jovially, comparing himself to Putin.

“You are a hell of a lot better!” Biden replied.

It was a rough start to a night that had eyes across the nation on Biden’s ability to prove he’s fit to represent the country for another four years.

Biden then made his other biggest gaffe of the night in response to the first question he received from a reporter at the news conference.

“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president did I think she’s not qualified to be president, so let’s start here,” he said in response to a question about what concerns he has about Harris’ ability to beat Trump if she were at the top of the ticket.

But while he’s faced criticism for his verbal stumbles, Biden argued he’s thrived when it comes to policy matters.

Biden spoke confidently about his work with NATO. He warned of the consequences to the alliance should Trump win the election, and said it’s a national security risk.

“I’m not having any of my European allies come up to me and say ‘Joe don’t run,’” Biden said. “What I hear them say is, ‘You’ve got to win, we can’t let this guy come forward. It would be a disaster.’”

In response to what was supposed to be the final question of the night, Biden struck a defiant tone about staying in the race. He said he wouldn’t reconsider running unless his team told him there’s no way he could win, even if they showed data that Harris could fare better than him. He then claimed that no one, and no poll, is saying he can’t win — despite a rapidly escalating national conversation about concerns over Biden’s ability to defeat Trump, and a growing chorus of Democratic officials calling on him to step down.

Chaos erupted as reporters tried to shout questions, and Biden’s staff tried to end the news conference, and the president flashed a smile from the stage.

One reporter managed to break through the chorus to ask Biden about Trump criticizing his mix-up between Harris and Trump as a jab at the president’s age and memory.

“Listen to him,” Biden said, pointing to Trump’s lies, misfires and rambles.

A staffer spoke over reporters as they erupted again, saying the session had concluded.