Trump Claims He Didn’t Say He Has Good Relationship With Kim Jong Un Despite WSJ Releasing Audio
This morning, President Donald Trump got his Sunday started by taking to Twitter to rail against the Wall Street Journal over an interview he gave the paper last week. One of the big revelations from that conversation was Trump’s declaration that he actually has a “very good relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Of course, this raised many eyebrows considering that Trump has publicly denigrated the reclusive and erratic leader numerous times.
At the start of his morning tweetstorm, Trump claimed that the WSJ falsely represented what he said. According to the president, his actual words were “I’d have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un.”
The Wall Street Journal stated falsely that I said to them “I have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un” (of N. Korea). Obviously I didn’t say that. I said “I’d have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un,” a big difference. Fortunately we now record conversations with reporters…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018
…and they knew exactly what I said and meant. They just wanted a story. FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018
POTUS disputing the quote comes on the heels of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeting out a meme calling the Wall Street Journal “Fake News” while releasing a short audio clip purporting that the president said “I’d” instead of “I.”
The Journal would follow that up by releasing their own audio clip from the interview that included additional context and a transcription. The paper added that it is standing behind its story. You can listen to it below:
We have reviewed the audio from our interview with President Trump, as well as the transcript provided by an external service, and stand by what we reported. Here is audio of the portion the White House disputes. https://t.co/eWcmiHrXJg pic.twitter.com/bx9fGFWaPw
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 14, 2018
Incidentally, the White House’s complaints about the Wall Street Journal interview and its efforts to paint the Journal as “Fake News” follows the paper’s report that Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen paid off porn star Stormy Daniels to stay quiet over a sexual encounter she had with Trump.
[image via screengrab]
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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona
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