Chandigarh: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday made an unusual move of inviting to his desk in Oval office during a phone call with Irish President Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
President Trump’s chats with a “beautiful” Irish reporter during a congratulatory call to that country’s new prime minister has sparked controversy after he paused an official discussion to praise her appearance.
Caitriona Perry, who works for Irish network RTE, was in the Oval Office for Trump’s call to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who recently became Ireland’s youngest-ever and first openly gay head of government.
Shortly after Varadkar took the president’s call, Trump halted the departing press pack by calling over the blonde Perry, the Daily Mail reported.
Perry herself posted a video of the “bizarre” incident — but later joked about meeting the president during an interview with her own network. The president’s comments prompted an outcry on Twitter, with @kevinchamberlain alleging that “he called you over to look you over. Gross. #EmbarrassedForMyCountry.”
“Well, we have a lot of your Irish press watching us. They’re just now leaving the room,” he told the taoiseach.
“And where are you from? Go ahead, come here. Where are you from? We have all of this beautiful Irish press. Where are you from?” he asked Perry.
When the svelte journalist approached his desk, he remarked on her “beautiful smile” and told Varadkar, “I bet she treats you well.”
After she returned to her seat across the room, Trump kept up the banter, saying that her country’s new governmental leader “thanks you for the newspapers.”
The president’s comments prompted an outcry on Twitter, with @kevinchamberlain alleging that “he called you over to look you over. Gross. #EmbarrassedForMyCountry.”
Irish journalist Caitriona Perry
User @Canni2Canning added, “Trump, ‘She has a nice smile so I bet she treats you well.’ Ms. Perry, please accept the apology of at least 1 female American.”
Perry herself posted a video of the “bizarre” incident — but later joked about meeting the president during an interview with her own network.
“One minute we were outside the window, and the next minute I’m meeting the president of the United States,” said Perry, who is married.
“Usually we would shoot from outside the window of the White House, and that’s what we were expecting today, but instead we were invited inside to witness the president’s call to the taoiseach.
“When we went in he was already on the phone but I managed to catch his eye and he called me over,” she told RTE.
Perry has served as the network’s Washington correspondent since 2013.