Trump on world leaders laughing during UN speech: ‘They were laughing with me’
President Donald Trump called reports that world leaders laughed during his speech to the United Nations “fake news” during a news conference Wednesday.
“They weren’t laughing at me, they were laughing with me,” Trump told reporters Wednesday.
The president’s speech Tuesday began with him saying his administration “has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.”
The comment was followed by laughter from diplomats in the crowd and Trump saying, “I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s OK.”
The president said the laughter was taken out of context and covered unfairly in the media.
“Well that’s fake news,” the president said. “That’s fake news and it was covered that way.”
He said the leaders “respect what I’ve done” and the crowd was having “a good time with me.”
“I said our country is now stronger than ever before, it’s true,” the president said. “And I heard a little rustle and I said it’s true and I heard smiles.”
When laughter was heard, Trump says the crowd was laughing along with him.
“We had fun,” Trump said. “They weren’t laughing at me.”
Trump’s message was an echo of comments made by UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who said the laughs were made because world leaders love “how honest he is.”
Haley said on Fox News that the press was wrong to portray the laughter as disrespectful to the president.
“They loved how honest he is,” Haley said on the Fox and Friends show. “It’s not diplomatic and they find it funny.”
She said diplomats were “falling over themselves” to get a picture with Trump and tell him “how great his speech was.”
“They love that he’s honest with them and they’ve never seen anything like it, so there’s respect there,” she said. “I saw that the media was trying to make it something disrespectful. That’s not what it was. They love to be with him.
Reality
Diplomats said they were definitely laughing at Trump at the United Nations.