As reporters were ushered out of a working lunch that Donald Trump was having with fellow NATO leaders Wednesday, a hot mic caught Trump saying “that was funny when I said that guy was two-faced.”
It is believed that Trump was referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom Trump described as “two-faced” earlier in the day.
The president’s initial comments regarding Trudeau came after a video clip showing the Canadian prime minister gossiping about the president’s conduct at bilateral NATO meetings on Tuesday went viral.
When asked about the video, Trump answered: “Well, he’s two-faced.”
After pausing, Trump continued: “And honestly with Trudeau, he’s a nice guy. I find him to be a very nice guy.”
As reporters were leaving the room during Trump's lunch with leaders from countries that meet the 2% NATO threshold, the radio pooler caught Trump saying, "That was funny when I said that guy was two-faced."
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) December 4, 2019 [1]
Trump speculated that Trudeau was unhappy with his criticism of Canada’s failure to meet NATO member states’ commitment to spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.
“They should be paying 2 percent,” Trump noted. “So I called him out on that, and I’m sure he wasn’t happy about it, but that’s the way it is.”
The president boarding Marine One in London to leave NATO earlier than planned l. pic.twitter.com/WrJNKqzMdM [2]
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) December 4, 2019 [3]
Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday that comments he made appearing to mock Trump referred to Trump’s “unscheduled” press conferences and his announcement that the 2020 G7 conference will be held at Camp David.
Trudeau went on to say his remarks won’t impact his relationship with Trump, despite the fact that the president called the Canadian leader “two-faced” after the comments were reported. Trudeau added he was “glad” to discuss Trump’s concerns about Canada and Europe’s NATO defense spending.
The hot mic also picked up Trump poking fun at the media. Earlier in the day, Trump announced that he wouldn’t be holding a press conference as a conclusion to the NATO summit in London.
“You’ll be in double digits for press conferences,” an unidentified voice said to Trump.
“Oh, and then you know what they’ll say?” Trump responded, referring to members of the media, “‘He didn’t do a press conference! He didn’t do a press conference!’”
WATCH:
World leaders including Trudeau, Macron, and Johnson were caught on camera mocking Trump pic.twitter.com/4WQKdnsy5k [4]
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) December 4, 2019 [5]