Prankster calls Trump, White House obliges

The President of the United States, one of the most protected people on the planet and among the least accessible to the public, would seem to be a long-shot target for a prank caller looking to have some fun.

So on Wednesday, when a radio shock jock and comedian dialled the White House switchboard impersonating a senator’s aide, he found himself — in between barely suppressed giggles and off-colour jokes with his producer — patched through to Trump on Air Force One.

The result was an impromptu six-minute conversation on immigration and the supreme court between the president and the radio host and comedian John Melendez, known to his listeners as “Stuttering John.”

Legislative matter

As far as Trump knew, he was taking a call from senator Robert Menendez, the Democrat from New Jersey, who seemed to have an urgent legislative matter he wanted to raise.

“Congratulations on everything — we’re proud of you,” Trump said by way of a greeting, apparently alluding to the real Menendez’s recent acquittal on corruption charges and a subsequent decision by the Justice Department not to pursue additional ones.

When a mobile communications officer put Trump on the line, Melendez barrelled forward as he engaged Trump in a discussion about what he should say to his supposed constituents in New Jersey about the Trump administration’s immigration policies that have led to migrant families being separated at the border. “What could I tell them that you’re going to do in moving forward?” Melendez asks.

“I’d like to do the larger solution, rather than the smaller solution,” Trump replies. “We have to have security at the border — we have to have that.”