Comedian Apparently Tricks Trump Into Prank Call

Donald Trump on Thursday was apparently tricked in to a phone call with a comedian pretending to be Sen. Robert Menendez.

The comic who placed the call was John Melendez, better known as Stuttering John, a regular guest on Howard Stern’s radio show. 

“I find it astounding that the news media’s not picking up the fact that I totally duped the President & got in touch within in less than 2 hours while he was on Air Force One. Shame on, NBC/, CNN & Huffington Post. I gave them a news story on their laps,” Melendez tweeted. 

While the call has not been independently confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, the voice on the other end appears to be that of the president. Politico reports White House insiders are baffled by the incident and are trying to figure out how it wasn’t stopped. 

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A person inside the White House with knowledge on the timetable of the call told Politico it was routed to Trump by the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and not through the office of legislative affairs.

Melendez talked to the person who sounded like Trump about immigration tactics, specifically separation of families who cross the border illegally and the soon-to-be vacated Supreme Court seat. In both instances, Trump said nothing out of the ordinary from his usual remarks on both topics. 

Later on Friday, Melendez tweeted that Secret Service had arrived at his home to “arrest me.” He said that he didn’t answer the door but that neighbors said they showed their badges to him.

The White House has yet to officially respond to requests for comment. The podcast is available here. 

June 29, 10:43 p.m. Updated to include Melendez’s tweets about the Secret Service showing up at his house.