The new prime minister of New Zealand claims she told President Trump at a recent conference in Asia that there were no marches protesting her upon taking office after Trump made a quip about how she “upset” a lot of people in her country.
Jacinda Ardern, who became prime minister of the island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean in October, said that at the East Asia Summit in the Philippines, Trump singled her out for teasing.
“I was waiting to walk out to be introduced at the East Asia Summit gala dinner, where we all paraded and while we were waiting, Trump in jest patted the person next to him on the shoulder, pointed at me and said, ‘This lady caused a lot of upset in her country’, talking about the election,” Ardern said, according to Newsroom, a New Zealand-based news outlet.
Ardern said she brought up, in response, the variety of protests that occurred in the wake of Trump’s inauguration.
“I said, ‘Well, you know, only maybe 40 percent’, then he said it again and I said, ‘You know’, laughing, ‘no one marched when I was elected,'” Ardern explained.
A number of large demonstrations have taken place in Washington, D.C., since January, including the Women’s March and March for Science. Though not always billed as anti-Trump, many of these demonstrations have been construed as being critical of Trump or his policies.
Trump also hasn’t been one to shy away from critiquing the protests. He said of the Women’s March, which took place days after his inauguration: “Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.”
Ardern said that Trump appeared to take her comment in good humor.
“He laughed, and it was only afterwards that I reflect that it could have been taken in a very particular way – he did not seem offended,” she said.
