Trump tells Merkel: 'We have something in common' in nod to wiretap claim

ByMEGHAN KENEALLY ABCNews logo
Saturday, March 18, 2017

President Trump today joked that he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel "have something in common," referring to reports that the Obama administration had listened to Merkel's cellphone calls.

At a joint news conference at the White House, Trump was asked by a German reporter about his unfounded claims that Trump Tower was wiretapped during the presidential campaign.

Judge Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News contributor, has alleged that British intelligence was tasked with spying on Trump and his team. The U.K.'s listening agency, Government Communications Headquarters, also known as GCHQ, has since shot down those claims.

"We said nothing," Trump said in reference to the claims about GCHQ. "All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for that on television. I didn't make an opinion on it. That was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on Fox.

"So you shouldn't be talking to me, you should be talking to Fox," he added.

Fox News chief anchor Shepard Smith addressed the matter on his show Friday, saying, "Fox News cannot confirm Judge Napolitano's commentary. Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now president of the United States was surveilled at any time, in any way, full stop.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer repeated Napolitano's comments -- along with several other news articles which made claims about surveillance -- at the White House press briefing on Thursday.

A spokesperson for GCHQ denied the report Thursday.

"Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wire tapping' against the then president elect are nonsense," the spokesperson said in a news release. "They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored."

Fox News' chief news anchor, Shepard Smith, addressed the matter on his show today, saying, "Fox News cannot confirm Judge Napolitano's commentary. Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now President of the United States was surveilled at any time, in any way."

When Trump was asked at the news conference whether he has ever regretted some of his tweets, the president replied, "very seldom."

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