Donald Trump Press Conference: 10 Extraordinary Moments From The President's Media Q&A

It was wide-ranging to say the least.
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Donald Trump offered up a real treat late on Wednesday night, holding a press conference in New York.

The world’s media – in town for the UN General Assembly – were invited to attend and ask the President all of their burning questions. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, what ensued was an hour and 22 minute-long back and forth, during which time Trump managed to reference a popstar, suggest a key figure in US history may have committed sex crimes and tell a reporter to sit down.

We wish we were kidding.

Here are 10 of the most bizarre moments from the whole thing...

1. Let’s Start With His George Washington Comment

While defending Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Trump decided to bring the founding father into things, imagining what might – and we would like to stress the might – happen if Washington was in Kavanaugh’s position.

He mused: “If we brought George Washington here... the Democrats would vote against him, just so you understand. And he may have had a bad past, who knows?”

This tweet sums up most people’s feelings on this:

Trump questioning the sexual past of George Washington is peak 2018

— Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) September 26, 2018

2. His Bizarre Remarks On The Press

These moments are something most people have come to expect, but Trump’s comments on the media are still mind-boggling sometimes.

This time around, after making the usual statements about fake news, he added a new line, stating: “A lot of the people sitting here are fake.”

Oh and don’t worry, there was plenty more where this came from as the conference went on...

3. The Sky News Exchange

When Sky’s Hannah Thomas-Peter stood to ask the president a question, he responded by telling the room she had been “nodding with every nice thing I said” so far.

Things then got a bit weirder, as Trump congratulated her for the recent sale of Sky to ComCast, to which Thomas-Peter retorted: “Nothing to do with me.”

“I hope you benefited,” Trump replied, before allowing her to continue her question... then cutting her off.

Trump has a very awkward interaction with a female Sky News reporter whose smile he admired pic.twitter.com/Bt7PymzxPH

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2018

Thomas-Peter wasn’t the only female journalist to have an unusual back-and-forth with Trump, and one of the others wasn’t quite so light-hearted.

When CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang tried to ask the president about Kavanaugh, he swiftly interrupted and spoke for a minute. Jiang then tried to finish her question, leading Trump to lament: “You’ve been asking the question for 10 minutes.”

“Please sit down,” he then said, but Jiang held onto the microphone and continued speaking.

4. “Mr Kurd”

So... Trump called on a foreign reporter by pointing at him, smiling and saying: “Yes please, Mr Kurd.” Yes, really.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

5. His justification For The UN Laughing At Him

Sorry everyone, but we all got it wrong.

The representatives at the UN General Assembly were not laughing at Trump earlier this week, when he said, “My administration has accomplished more than almost any other administration in the history of our country”, they were laughing with him. Of course...

6. The Israel And Palestine Comments

There was a lot going on in this section of the press conference, so we’ll summarise:

First of all, he called the conflict a “real estate deal” – prompting usage of the 😬emoji to rocket up – before comparing solving it to working out what to do with US healthcare, reaching this astounding conclusion:

Trump just said US healthcare is a “tougher deal” than Israel / Palestine.

— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) September 26, 2018

At this point, some people wisely called it a night:

Trump just referred to the Israel/Palestine conflict as a "real estate deal" so nows probably a good time to turn off and go to bed.

— Beav (@__Beav) September 26, 2018

But for those who stuck around, it was time for Trump to take aim at a neighbour...

7. His Canada Trash Talk

Ah, nothing says “United Nations” quite like slamming another country, does it?

Trump reiterated his previously-made claim that Canada isn’t treating the US fairly when it comes to trade, stating:“We are very unhappy with the negotiating style from Canada.

“I love Canada by the way, I have friends, but that’s nothing to do with it.”

He then launched what appeared to be a stream of consciousness monologue on the country – which is, as we all know, one of the friendliest places in the world – and considered things like adding extra tax to every car that comes from there.

That was the most remarkable trashing of the Canada-U.S. relationship we’ve ever seen by a US president. Quite unbelievable. #NAFTA #cdnpoli

— Susan Delacourt (@SusanDelacourt) September 26, 2018

Finishing the rant off in style, Trump claimed he had declined to meet Canada PM Justin Trudeau at the UN.

This was disputed, in what may well be record time:

I am told by a senior Canadian official that Canada did not request a meeting with Donald Trump.

— Katie Simpson (@CBCKatie) September 26, 2018

8. Another Jibe At The NYT

Well, technically it was two, as Trump took a trip down memory lane:

“The paper I once loved.” He almost sounds wistful.

— Sam Dolnick (@samdolnick) September 26, 2018

And then demanded praise:

As Trump calls on the "failing" NYT, my colleague @MarkLandler says: "We’re kind of thriving, not failing."

"You're doing well," Trump replied. "Say 'Thank you, Mr. Trump.'"

— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) September 26, 2018

9. His Kavanaugh Comments

With the vote on Kavanaugh coming up tomorrow, numerous reporters focused their questions on the judge and the three sexual misconduct allegations against him.

The president stood by the nominee, claiming that the three women who have accused him of misconduct are “part of a con job” from the Democrats, calling one accusation “ridiculous” and describing the third as “another beauty”.

10. And Finally, Elton John Got A Mention

Closing the press conference, Trump offered: “I always like to finish with a good one. Elton John said, ‘When you hit that last tune and it’s good, don’t go back’.”

Trump quotes Elton John and compares his press conference to a concert pic.twitter.com/uskmnS5Csp

— Brian Koerber (@bkurbs) September 26, 2018

Why? We don’t know. And it’s not even clear if Elton has ever even said that – or how he feels about receiving a nod from the president.

HuffPost UK has contacted the Rocketman singer’s representatives for comment.

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