After months of bad blood, President Donald Trump seemed to attempted to strike some camaraderie Friday at the White House by suggesting he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had at least one thing in common: they both were bugged by the Obama administration.
When asked about his unsubstantiated claims that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the election and that he enlisted British intelligence to do so, a claim that the White House has now apologized for, Trump seemed to make a joke of it.
“As far as wiretapping, I guess, by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps,” he said, gesturing to a visibly uncomfortable Merkel. The crowd laughed several seconds later.
Trump was most likely referring to revelations brought forward by Wikileaks that the NSA had wiretapped Merkel and other German chancellors for decades. Obama denied these allegations and assured Merkel at the time that he was not tapping her phone, according to CBS News.
Watch the full exchange below:
TRUMP: “On wiretapping by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps.” —via @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/4P6gWWM9Xo
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 17, 2017
