John Melendez, a veteran performer and comedian, who has appeared on The Jay Leno show, published a podcast episode on Thursday that includes a recording of a three minute conversation between himself and what sounds to be president Donald Trump.
“Hi, Bob. How are you? Congratulations on everything, we’re proud of you,” the voice which sounds very much like president Trump says, apparently referencing the resolution of a five-year corruption investigation into the New Jersey Democrat. “You went through a tough, tough situation, and I don’t think a very fair situation, but congratulations.”
The pair briefly discussed immigration, with Trump stating, “I want to be able to take care of the situation every bit as much as anybody else at the top level. I’d rather do the larger solution rather than the smaller solution.”
The comedian also urged the president to choose a supreme court nominee who is not overly conservative, with Trump responding that he had “a big list of people” and that he would announce a nominee in 12 to 14 days.
In an interview with CNN, Melendez said he was “shocked” to receive a call back after a series of longshot prank calls to the White House switchboard. “I just could not believe that it took us an hour and a half to get Jared Kushner and Donald Trump on the phone from Air Force One,” he said.
Subsequently, a White House official gave a statement to CNN that does not dispute the authenticity of the recording: “The President wants to be accessible to members and likes engaging them and wants them to have the opportunity to connect. The downside of that is sometimes the channels are open too widely and mistakes like this happen.”
According to American media, the White House was “scrambling” Thursday to figure out how the prankster had been able to gain access to the president so easily. According to reports , White House staffers “freaked out” over the breach.
