White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday that President Trump wasn’t praised over the phone by the president of Mexico and leaders of the Boy Scouts, as Trump claimed, and that instead, those conversations took place in person.
Trump has said in recent days that he talked to both parties by phone. In the case of Mexico, Trump said Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto praised him for the reduction in illegal border crossings.
Trump also said the leaders of the Boy Scouts called him to say they liked his speech.
But Sanders said those conversations happened in person, not on the phone. Her clarification came after skepticism was growing about whether those phone calls ever took place.
“On Mexico, he was referencing a conversation that they had had at the G-20 summit, where they specifically talked about the issues that he referenced,” Sanders said.
“In terms of the Boy Scouts, multiple members of the Boy Scout leadership, following his speech that day, congratulated him, praised him and offered him quite … I’m looking for the word, quite powerful compliments following his speech,” she added.
“They were direct conversations, not actual phone calls,” she said.
But Sanders rejected the idea that Trump lied about those conversations.
“I wouldn’t say it was a lie,” she said. “That’s a pretty bold accusation. The conversations took place, they just simply didn’t take place over a phone call he had. He had them in person.”
