Trump Gives ABC’s Jon Karl an Exclusive Phoner Just Hours After Accusing Him of Lying About a Prior Call

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump gave ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl an exclusive phone interview on Monday — shortly after he accused Karl of lying about a previous phone call.

“Jonathan Karl, of ABC Fake News, made a statement that I called him early in the morning, the day after the assassination attempt, to ask whether or not HE was OK,” Trump posted to X. “No, this was a hit on ME, not HIM, and I didn’t make such a call, why would I do that?” Trump wrote.

“He called me, but I didn’t take his call — He just confirmed that to me when he called again. I would say that’s very dishonest reporting. He’s trying to make himself look important but, I’m not surprised, because it comes from ABC Fake News!” Trump wrote.

Trump’s attack appeared to be in response to a video Karl posted of himself recounting the presidential phone call story the day after the White House Communications Dinner.

“I got a call this morning on my landline about a little after 7 a.m. Not a lot of people call me on that number these days. But it was the president. It was President Trump calling, he said, to see if I was okay with all that happened last night, to see if I was okay,” Karl said on the video.

A few hours after Trump’s attack calling Karl a liar, Karl wrote, “In a phone conversation a short while ago, President Trump stopped short of saying Iran has violated the ceasefire.”

“Regarding the Iranian drone and missile attacks on UAE today: ‘They were shot down for the most part,’ Trump told me. ‘One got through. Not huge damage,'” Karl wrote.

“Regarding the Iranian attack on a South Korean ship: ‘We’re going to look into it. Shots were fired at a South Korean ship, and I think South Korea should take some action. … This was a South Korean ship riding by itself. It was not an escorted ship.'”

Karl didn’t mention anything about Trump’s earlier attack or whether he discussed it with the president.

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