An exchange in the Oval Office on Tuesday played out like a boardroom elimination on "The Celebrity Apprentice," as President Donald Trump dropped everything to comment on an Irish reporter's "nice smile."
RTÉ Washington correspondent Caitríona Perry was singled out while she and several members of the press visited the White House to cover Trump's diplomatic phone call with Ireland's new prime minister, Leo Varadkar.
During Trump's light discussion with Varadkar, he interrupted the call to summon Perry to his desk.
"Well, we have a lot of your Irish press watching us right now," Trump said in a video clip Perry posted on Twitter. "We have all of this beautiful Irish press here. Come here, come here, where are you from?"
"RTÉ News, Caitríona Perry," she said when she approached the desk.
"Caitríona Perry. She has a nice smile on her face, so I bet she treats you well," Trump said.
The reporter called the exchange a "bizarre moment" and is seen laughing awkwardly as she walks away.
