President Trump sought to cast doubt on how someone could overhear a phone call he had with an ambassador, claiming that he has never been able to overhear a phone conversation that was not on speakerphone.
“I have been watching people making phone calls my entire life. My hearing is, and has been, great. Never have I been watching a person making a call, which was not on speakerphone, and been able to hear or understand a conversation. I’ve even tried, but to no avail. Try it live!” Trump tweeted Thursday.
I have been watching people making phone calls my entire life. My hearing is, and has been, great. Never have I been watching a person making a call, which was not on speakerphone, and been able to hear or understand a conversation. I’ve even tried, but to no avail. Try it live!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2019
Trump’s claim came during the testimony of a U.S. diplomat who said he overheard Trump ask Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, about the status of “investigations” during a cellphone conversation in Kyiv restaurant.
David Holmes, the counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, claims he heard Trump ask Sondland if the Ukrainians were going to “do the investigation,” and Sondland said, “He’s going to do it.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, someone calling the president from a mobile phone at a restaurant, and then having a conversation of this level of candor, colorful language. There’s just so much about the call that was so remarkable that I remember it vividly,” Holmes told lawmakers in a closed-door deposition about the July 26 phone call.
