

A short time later he tweeted out the audio. “Tune into my new Podcast where I prank call the President & he calls me from Air Force One!” Mr. The prank did not become public until Thursday afternoon, after Mr. On Friday, he confirmed that timetable publicly and told reporters to expect an announcement on July 9. Trump replied, adding that he hoped to make a selection in 12 to 14 days. “I have a big list of people, Bob, and we’re going to take a look at it,” Mr. Trump would consider naming a moderate rather than a conservative.

Kennedy from the Supreme Court, and asked whether Mr.

Melendez then raised the retirement of Justice Anthony M. “We have to have security at the border - we have to have that.” “I’d like to do the larger solution, rather than the smaller solution,” Mr. Trump responded, as he has before, that he would like to pass a broad immigration bill, which he said would be good for both parties. “What could I tell them that you’re going to do in moving forward?” Mr. Melendez said that he received a call from Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, arranging a callback time for him and the president and asking what topic he would like to raise with Mr. Melendez back at one point to verify that he was who he said he was, asking whether he was calling from a cellphone and why it appeared to be from a California area code. Melendez told his producer at one point, as he as he waited for the call from Mr. “I don’t even think they’re going to call me,” Mr. Melendez was plainly shocked at the president’s willingness to take his call in this case. Stern’s sidekick on the show for more than 15 years, famous - and engaged in salty banter. Trump frequently called in to the shock jock Howard Stern’s bawdy radio program - the same one that made Stuttering John, Mr. Melendez that the president was onstage at his rally in Fargo, and would have to call back. The next audible voice is the signal officer, who can be heard telling Mr. Trump’s assistant, but then decided to try to transmit the call “through signal,” a reference to the White House Communications Agency, originally known as the White House Signal Corps, which provides emergency mobile communications for the president wherever he goes. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this,” the operator said with a heavy sigh. Melendez’s profanity-laced podcast indicates that the process was surprisingly easy. White House officials did not respond on Friday to requests for comment on how the prankster had been allowed to get through to the president. Menendez who, he claimed, badly needed to speak to Mr. Melendez, who had called the White House switchboard, affected a British accent and identified himself as Sean Moore (“S-E-A-N, as in Sean Connery, and Moore, as in Roger Moore”), an aide to Mr. “You went through a tough, tough situation, and I don’t think a very fair situation.” Menendez’s recent acquittal on corruption charges and a subsequent decision by the Justice Department not to pursue additional ones. Trump said by way of a greeting, apparently alluding to the real Mr. “Congratulations on everything - we’re proud of you,” Mr.

Trump knew, he was taking a call from Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, who seemed to have an urgent legislative matter he wanted to raise.
