While meeting with reporters on Monday outside of the United Nations, Donald Trump referred to the beginning of his presidency as “when I took over the United States.”
Trump appeared before a bilateral meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, which was held at the UN in an attempt to mediate tensions between Pakistan and India. The president’s offhand remark was criticized by many of his opponents for its seemingly dictatorial tone.
This is not the first controversial statement by Trump within his tenure as president. Back in August of this year, Trump stated “I am the chosen one” while talking to reporters outside of the White House about the ongoing trade war with China. Trump later insisted he was making a joke when he said it.
“When I looked up to the sky and jokingly said ‘I am the chosen one’ at a press conference two days ago, referring to taking on Trade with China, little did I realize that the media would claim that I had a ‘Messiah complex’,” he tweeted at the time.
Both of these comments and many others by the president have received their fair share of backlash. Later on Monday, Trump went on to say he would get a Nobel Peace Prize like former President Barack Obama if they gave them out “fairly.”
“I think I’m gonna get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don’t,” Trump said. “They gave one to Obama immediately upon his ascent to the presidency, and he had no idea why he got it. And you know what? That was the only thing I agreed with him on.”
The statement came after a foreign reporter implied that Trump would “very likely and definitely” receive a Nobel Peace Prize, if he successfully mediated tensions between India and Pakistan.
Earlier this year, Trump claimed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Abe, meanwhile, did not confirm the nomination but also did not deny it.
WATCH:
Trump refers to the beginning of his presidency as "when I took over the United States." pic.twitter.com/PNJVRFu3iC [1]
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) September 23, 2019 [2]