President Donald Trump at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland on February 22, 2025 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
Although President Donald Trump has angrily attacked journalists Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer — he described Parker as a "radical left lunatic" and Scherer as a liar — he granted them an interview for an article published by The Atlantic early Monday morning, April 28.
In their article, Parker and Scherer explain how they got the interview. And that explanation caught the attention of CNN's Hadas Gold.
"Apparently, as word of our meeting spread through Trump’s inner circle, someone had reminded him of some of the things we (specifically Ashley) had said and written that he didn’t like," Parker and Scherer recall. "We still don't know who it was — but we immediately understood the consequences: no photo shoot, no tour of the newly redecorated Oval Office or the Lincoln Bedroom, and definitely no interview. But we've both covered Trump long enough to know that his first word is rarely his final one."
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The reporters continue, "So at 10:45 on a Saturday morning in late March, we called him on his cellphone. (Don’t ask how we got his number. All we can say is that the White House staff have imperfect control over Trump's personal communication devices.) The president was at the country club he owns in Bedminster, New Jersey. The number that flashed on his screen was an unfamiliar one, but he answered anyway. 'Who's calling?' he asked."
In response to Parker and Scherer's article, Gold went to X, formerly Twitter, and posted, "Ummm should the President be answering phone calls from unfamiliar numbers??? With how easy it is to spoof voices of people he trusts??"
Gold's April 28 tweet isn't going unnoticed.
Philadelphia-based attorney Christopher Moyer posted, "Um, nooooooooo."
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X user Sunny Jim posted, "The actual number displayed can easily be spoofed also."
Another X user, Jordan Teller, tweeted, "Also pretty sure we’re all going to ask!!"
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