With less than 24 hours before Christmas Day, Donald Trump has admitted he is “still working” on getting the first lady a holiday gift – but he said he at least got her a card.
The president participated in a video conference call with members of the US military stationed overseas during the holiday season on Tuesday, in which he discussed everything from North Korea’s nuclear threat to gift shopping for Melania Trump.
“I got her a beautiful card”, Mr Trump reportedly told a soldier who asked him what he got the first lady for Christmas.
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He added: “I’m still working on a Christmas present.”
Mr Trump has previously acknowledged his shortcomings in finding meaningful gifts for his wife after becoming president in 2016. For example, he similarly admitted to Fox to only gifting her a “beautiful card” for her birthday in 2018.
“Well I better not get into that, because I may get in trouble”, he told the conservative network’s morning show hosts when asked about what he got the first lady for her 48th birthday. “Maybe I didn’t get her so much.”
“You know I’m very busy to be running out looking for presents”, he added. “But I got her a beautiful card and some beautiful flowers.”
The wide-ranging interview with Fox News was conducted on the morning of his wife’s birthday.
Pete Souza, a White House photographer to Barack Obama, has said the former president “always” got his wife a birthday gift.
Mr Trump spoke to service members from his private Mar-a-lago resort in Florida. He also spent part of the video call attacking the Democratic Party over his impeachment, saying “they treated us very unfairly” during the House-led inquiry into his Ukraine dealings.
The president also addressed statements from North Korea about a “Christmas gift” to Washington from Pyongyang, telling the service members: “We’ll find out what the surprise is and we’ll deal with it very successfully. Let’s see what happens. Everybody’s got surprises for me but let’s see what happens. I handle them as they come along.”
“We’ll see what happens. Maybe it’s a nice present”, he added. “Maybe it’s present where [Kim Jong Un] sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test. I may get a vase. I may get a nice present from him. You don’t know. You never know.”
