German reporters press President Trump on wiretap claims, ‘fake news’

Foreign reporters challenged President Donald Trump to address his wiretapping accusation and attacks on the media at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A German reporter asked President Trump whether he regrets claiming that former President Barack Obama bugged Trump Tower during the presidential campaign, provoking Trump to joke about reports that the National Security Agency had once monitored Merkel’s phone under Obama. “As far as wiretapping, I guess by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps,” President Trump said with a grin.

President Trump beat back questions about why the White House had accused Britain’s intelligence agency of having helped Obama surveil Trump Tower, saying press secretary Sean Spicer had merely read aloud a report from a Fox News legal analyst. “We said nothing. All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I did not make an opinion on it,” President Trump said. “That was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on Fox. So you should not be talking to me. You should be talking to Fox.”