President Trump made the comments to Catriona Perry at the Oval Office.
On Tuesday evening, President Trump had a telephone conversation with the newly elected Taoiseach of Ireland, Leo Varadkar.
During this chat with the Fine Gael leader, Trump congratulated Varadkar on his “great victory” during a phone call from the White House. Varadkar recently secured the party nomination to replace the outgoing Taoiseach, Enda Kenny.
Topics such as migration, Brexit, climate change and the undocumented Irish in the US formed the crux of the conversation, but one moment from their conversation has been shared more than any other.
During this telephone call, various members of the media were assembled, including the Washington Correspondent & US Bureau Chief for Ireland’s domestic broadcaster, RTÉ News journalist Catriona Perry.
In a rather unusual move, the president invited Perry to say hello to Mr Varadkar.
Trump begins by syain: “Hello how are you?…Congratulations on your great victory. We have so many people from Ireland in this country. I know so many of them too. I feel I know all of them. But I just want to congratulate you. That was a great victory that you had.”
He adds: “We have a lot of your Irish press watching us, they’re just now leaving the room.” At this point, Trump summons Perry over to his desk before asking about her credentials and saying: “she has a nice smile on her face, so I bet she treats you well.”
Since that moment occurred, the RTÉ journalist has tweeted the conversation, and while some people have dismissed Trump’s remarks as playful, others have taken the opposite view – Didi Hamann being one of them.
Video of the bizarre moment when President @realDonaldTrump called me over during his call with Taoiseach @campaignforLeo Varadkar. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/TMl2SFQaji
— Caitriona Perry (@CaitrionaPerry) June 27, 2017
He didn't praise her, he's just a creep https://t.co/7GwFfVIRfT
— Didi Hamann (@DietmarHamann) June 28, 2017
Trump,"She has a nice smile on her face so I bet she treats you well."😳Ms.Perry, please accept the apology of at least 1 female American.😔
— Christine Canning (@Canni2Canning) June 27, 2017
He called you over to look you over. Gross. #EmbarassedForMyCountry
— Kevin Chamberlin (@kevinchamberlin) June 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/JulieAnnSilver/status/879829661945036801
It's hell to be objectified. When POTUS has no fear of doing that surrounded by cameras… I'm so sorry. Your success is more than a smile.
— Cristin Harber (@CristinHarber) June 28, 2017
We apologize that our president is a weird, inappropriate creep.
— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) June 27, 2017
Clip via – Catriona Perry and RTE
