'Jedi mind-meld': Obama flubs Star Trek term

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama couldn't bring two battling political parties together to forestall steep budget cuts on Friday, but he did manage a feat of more cosmic proportions.

The President brought two universes together, and he did it by boldly going where no politician should ever go: confusing Star Wars and Star Trek.

Mr Obama's mixing of science-fiction metaphors crossed a final frontier, setting the nerdiest corners of the Internet ablaze.

The President was answering reporters' questions on Friday in the White House briefing room, shortly after a last-minute meeting with the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate. The meeting failed to ward off automatic budget cuts that will begin carving US$85 billion (S$105 billion) of government spending by day's end.