President Donald J. Trump made an unexpected appearance on WABC’s Sid & Friends in the Morning this morning, cold calling into the station to speak with Red Apple Media owner John Catsimatidis, who was filling in for Rosenberg.
The call focused on U.S. military strikes against Islamic State targets in Nigeria on Christmas Day, political criticism of his recent actions in Venezuela, and a personal message of gratitude to Catsimatidis. On Christmas Day, the United States, in cooperation with the Nigerian government, struck several targets.
The U.S. claimed the terrorist group had been targeting Christians in the region. Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the strikes were part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States. This cooperation involves intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
Trump defended the timing and precision of the strikes during his unexpected call on WABC Radio, calling them a “Christmas present” for U.S. interests.
“I told Nigeria, and I told the people around Nigeria that if you do it, you’re going to get hit. And I said yesterday, I said, hit him on Christmas Day. It’ll be a Christmas present. We hit ISIS, who have terrible the butchers. Then we really hit them hard in different locations, and they really got hit hard yesterday. So they got a very bad Christmas present,” Trump said.
The president also addressed criticism from Democratic lawmakers over a separate action involving U.S. strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela. He suggested their objections were politically motivated rather than rooted in policy concerns.
“They’re only objecting because I’m the one doing it, or anybody else, even another Republican. Let’s say you take a weak Republican, they would say that’s all right. But because they have Trump derangement syndrome, they’re sick people. There’s something wrong with them. But every time I knock out a boat, we save 25,000 American lives. It’s very simple,” Trump said.
Throughout the conversation, Trump maintained a conversational and sometimes playful tone, even thanking Catsimatidis personally for his support.
“For the people listening, I called up just to thank John, he said some nice things about me. I ended up being on a radio show, and that’s ok,” Trump said, acknowledging the unusual circumstances of his radio appearance.
Catsimatidis, who was filling in for Rosenberg, welcomed the conversation and highlighted Trump’s accessibility during the call. The segment provided listeners a firsthand perspective on the president’s rationale behind recent military actions, as well as his reaction to partisan criticism.
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