During a phone call with Ireland’s new Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Tuesday, Trump interrupted the conversation to bat his eyelashes at a female Irish reporter.
After congratulating Varadkar, Ireland’s first openly gay prime minister, on his “great victory,” it seems Trump got a little distracted by Caitríona Perry, U.S. bureau chief for RTÉ News.
“We have a lot of you Irish press watching us right now,” President Trump told Varadkar.
“And where are you from?” Trump asked, pointing toward Perry. “Go ahead, come here, come here.”
“We have all of this beautiful Irish press,” he said, talking again to Prime Minister Varadkar.
Perry comes forward, introducing herself and her news station.
“She has a nice smile on her face so I bet she treats you well,” Trump said.
Perry laughed off the encounter at the time, but on Twitter later that day, she described the moment as “bizarre.”
“Video of the bizarre moment when President @realDonaldTrump called me over during his call with Taoiseach @campaignforLeo Varadkar,” she tweeted.
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
RTÉ rehashed the encounter later that day in an article titled “Trump call! RTÉ’s Caitríona has Presidential moment.”
Perry said she didn’t expect to even be allowed inside the White House to cover the president’s phone call to Varadkar, who took office earlier this month as Ireland’s taoiseach, or prime minister.
“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 caught his eye and he called me over,” she told RTÉ Entertainment.,
Twitter responds after Trump hits on reporter
As is to be expected, the response to Trump’s comments to Irish reporter Perry ranged from “objectification” to “complimentary.”
He called you over to look you over. Gross. #EmbarassedForMyCountry
— Kevin Chamberlin (@kevinchamberlin) June 27, 2017
SO very gross! OMG! I am so sad for all the women who must interact with him. SO DISGUSTING! #notmypresident #NOCLASS #PREDATOR
— HeartMommy (@HeartMommy) June 27, 2017
Trump gives spotlight to Irish reporter (dressed in notice me Helen Thomas red) to Irish leader and liberals have meltdown. C’mon.
— Kristinn Taylor (@KristinnFR) June 28, 2017
But u were giggling ?he sounded kind to u. Can’t women take compliments anymore? ?
— Ana Braga (@TheAnaBraga) June 27, 2017
Trump singles out female reporters
This isn’t the first time Trump has singled out a female reporter. He faced backlash when he told former Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly she “had blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,” after she asked some tough questions of then-candidate Trump during a presidential debate.
The U.S. president has also become known for his questionable objectification of women.
There was that time Trump said he would date his daughter Ivanka if he weren’t her father. And of course, there was the time he told “Access Hollywood”‘s Billy Bush how easy it is to get women when you’re “famous” because you just walk up and “grab them by the pussy.”
