Trump surprise call to C-SPAN Washington Journal Primetime, Digi Mart USA News: An unidentified woman could be heard laughing in the background as President Donald Trump made a surprise call to C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Primetime on Monday night.
The brief laughter was audible at the beginning of the call, shortly after host Mimi Geerges announced that the program had received a call from the White House. The woman was not identified during the broadcast, and it was unclear where Trump was calling from or who he was with.
The call, which lasted about eight minutes, covered immigration, the conflict with Iran and an effort in the House of Representatives to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment by email.
Neither Trump nor Geerges addressed the laughter before the president began speaking. There is no indication from the recording of why the woman was laughing or a suggestion of anything inappropriate taking place.
The president called during the premiere of the evening edition of C-SPAN’s long-running viewer call-in program. Geerges said she had heard that Trump likes to watch C-SPAN and asked what he enjoyed watching on the network.
“I like to watch the call-ins because it gives me a little bit of an indication of where we are,” Trump said. He added that Republican callers appeared supportive of him, while suggesting Democrats were less enthusiastic.
When questioned about the administration’s deportation policies, Trump said officials had not placed the same level of pressure on farm workers, waitresses and other workers as they had on people he described as dangerous criminals.
Geerges also asked about the possibility of Republicans supporting an effort to impeach Hegseth. Trump said he would be “disappointed” in any Republican who voted for it and defended the defense secretary’s record.
A House resolution that Democrats introduced in April accused Hegseth of participating in unauthorized military action against Iran, failing to consult Congress meaningfully and exposing American service members to unnecessary risk.
On Monday, outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced eight articles of impeachment against the defense secretary, accusing Hegseth of misconduct connected to U.S. military operations in not only Iran but also in places such as Venezuela, Yemen and the Caribbean.
The House is expected to vote on Hegseth’s impeachment by Wednesday.
When asked on C-SPAN how much longer the conflict with Iran might continue, Trump said it depended on whether an agreement could be reached. He said Iran wanted a deal and that regional partners preferred negotiations to another major U.S.
strike. “I’d like to do it this way, too,” Trump said.
“Iran would like to make a deal, and we’ll find out whether or not that’ll happen.”
A few hours before calling C-SPAN, Trump held an unscheduled White House news conference alongside UFC CEO Dana White, his longtime friend and political supporter, where many of the same topics were discussed. The president brought White to the briefing-room podium after publicly floating him as a possible White House press secretary.
White told reporters that he had “zero political aspirations.” At the end of the appearance, Trump asked him directly whether he wanted the press secretary job, but White declined, saying: “Thank you for the offer, sir. I do not want to be in politics.”
