‘Who?’ Trump Fails To Recognize the Names of Two Americans Jailed in China

President Donald Trump appeared unfamiliar Monday with the names of two American citizens jailed in China, responding, “Who?” when a reporter asked about their cases in the Oval Office.

The moment came during an event focused on the Trump administration’s healthcare policies. The president was joined by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., among others.

Highlighting the president’s work in helping to free Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, whose children are American citizens, from a Chinese prison, a reporter asked the president on Monday about his upcoming meeting with Xi Jinping. The Chinese president is expected to visit the White House in late September.

“Will you be talking to him about other Americans’ releases, including —”

“Americans’ releases?” clarified Trump.

“Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt, who have been held in China for well over a decade,” the reporter continued.

Both Wells Jr. and Hunt were convicted on drug charges, though their families say they were victims of separate “blind mule” scams in which they unknowingly carried luggage containing hidden narcotics. Their relatives have sought their release on humanitarian grounds amid concerns about both prisoners’ deteriorating health.

“Who is it? Who?” Trump questioned, clearly not recognizing the names. The reporter again repeated herself before the president responded:

I’ll speak to [Jinping] about a lot. Look, he’s coming in a couple of weeks. He looks forward to it. I look forward to having him. We’ve had a very good relationship, as you can see; even with the Strait of Hormuz, he’s relatively inactive. He’s been relatively inactive, by comparison to what he could have been.

Uh, he’s a man I have a lot of respect for. I think he respects me, and I think he respects our country. Again, he didn’t respect our country two years ago. He laughed at our country. He thought our country was run by fools, and he was right. He was right. Now, we have the hottest country in the world. Right now, we have the hottest country in the world.

Watch above via YouTube.

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