‘Why Would I Do That?’ Trump Accuses ABC’s Jon Karl of Falsely Claiming He Called to Check on Him After WHCD

(Sipa USA via AP/AP)

President Donald Trump attacked ABC News anchor Jonathan Karl on Monday, claiming a story Karl told his social media followers the day after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting more than a week ago was not true.

Trump posted to Truth Social, “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. No, this was a hit on ME, not HIM, and I didn’t make such a call, why would I do that?”

Trump continued, “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!”

In a video posted to X the Sunday following the dinner, Karl said, “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 continued:

And then we spoke for a few minutes and he reiterated what he said last night about feeling unity in the room, and about his absolute insistence that this dinner, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, be rescheduled and rescheduled soon. He knows that I’m a former president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. I’ve been involved in planning these dinners, and he said, “We’ve got to get that dinner planned again.” And he was marveling at the Secret Service and how the job they did, and they way they immediately surrounded him.

Later that day, while hosting This Week, he recounted the same story live on the air with George Stephanopoulos.

“He said he was calling at first, to see if I was okay with what happened last night. ‘Are you okay?’ And then he reiterated many of the things he said at his press conference last night,” Karl told Stephanopoulos.

Watch the clip above.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!