The female reporter who President Trump said on Thursday “has a nice smile” while on the phone with the newly elected Irish prime minister described the experience as “bizarre.”
“One minute we were outside the window and the next minute I’m meeting the president of the United States,” Caitriona Perry, the Washington correspondent for Raidio Teilifis Eireann, later told RTE Entertainment.
Perry went on to say that she managed to catch the president’s eye, even though he was already on the phone with Leo Varadkar.
“Usually, we would shoot from outside the window of the White House, and that’s what we were expecting today but instead we were invited inside to witness the President’s call to the taoiseach,” she said, using another name for the head of Irish government. “When we went in he was already on the phone, but I managed to catch his eye and he called me over.”
Perry also said it was a “bizarre moment” in a tweet that includes the video of that moment, which happened in the Oval Office.
Video of the bizarre moment when President @realDonaldTrump called me over during his call with Taoiseach @campaignforLeo Varadkar. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/TMl2SFQaji
— Caitriona Perry (@CaitrionaPerry) June 27, 2017
Trump reportedly waited on the phone for 90 seconds before Leo Varadkar picked up the phone. “We have a lot of your Irish press watching us,” he said before taking note of Perry.
“And where are you from?” he asked, pointing to Perry and asking her to walk closer.
“She has a nice smile on her face,” Trump said after she explained who she was and the outlet she works for. “So I bet she treats you well,” Trump added, to a few laughs, before the press left the room.
