Argentine President Mauricio Macri categorically denied a report circulated by the Democratic National Committee on Monday in which an Argentine journalist accused President-elect Trump of discussing his private business interests during a phone call last week.
According to a report in the left-wing website Talking Points Memo, Argentine journalist Jorge Lanata claimed in a local newspaper that Trump had pressed Macri to address a series of permit issues that had stalled the development of a Trump-branded property in Argentina.
Lanata prefaced his statements with the phrase “mitad en joda, mitad en serio,” which means “half joking, half serious” in English. TPM declined to mention the warning in their story, titled “Cashing in BIGLY in Argentina,” which was widely circulated on social media.
Conservative columnist Peggy Noonan wrote “presidents. can’t. do. this.” on Twitter and DNC Communications Director Adam Hodge said in an email to reporters that the TPM report “confirmed everyone’s worst fears that Donald Trump would use his position as President-elect to enrich himself and his family.”
Aides to both Trump and Macri said Lanata’s claim and the TPM report were “completely untrue.”
“That issue was not part of the conversation between president Mauricio Macri and president-elect Donald Trump,” Macri’s office said in a statement. “The subject both leaders talked about was the institutional relationship, and they briefly mentioned the personal relationship they have had for years.”
Minutes later, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said: “Any reports alleging a discussion about personal business interests between President-elect Trump and President Macri are completely untrue. The Argentine President and his office have also refuted these baseless claims.”
The Embassy of Argentina also weighed in on the controversial report to say the two men mostly spoke about the “institutional relationship” between the U.S. and Argentina in addition to mentioning “the personal relationship they have had for years.”
