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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media prior to his departure from the White House May 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Trump is heading to Dallas, Texas, to speak to the National Rifle Association Leadership Forum. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump Said Some Stuff About Rudy Giuliani, Stormy Daniels, How Great Everything Is, and "Witch Hunts"

Before hitting the friendly skies on his way to the NRA convention in Texas on Friday, the president had a few things to say directly to the press

Common Dreams staff

President Donald Trump was on his way out of town on Friday, but wanted to say a few things before heading off to the NRA's national convention in Texas for a speech later in the day.

First he said some stuff outside the White House:

Then, when he arrived at the Andrews Air Force base, he said a few more things:

A few takeaways.

NYT: Trump Undercuts Giuliani About Payments to Stormy Daniels

President Trump undercut his attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, on Friday, and said the former New York mayor will eventually get the facts right regarding a payment to a pornographic actress who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump.

“And virtually everything said has been said incorrectly, and it’s been said wrong, or it’s been covered wrong by the press,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Giuliani, who joined Mr. Trump’s legal team last month, “just started a day ago,” Mr. Trump said, speaking to reporters on Friday as he left Washington to attend a National Rifle Association convention in Dallas.

“He is a great guy,” Mr. Trump said. “He’ll get his facts straight.”

It was the first time the president addressed the inconsistent narrative about the payment made by his personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, who goes by the stage name Stormy Daniels. Mr. Trump did not offer any details on Friday to clarify the confusion, but said, “It’s actually very simple. But there has been a lot of misinformation.”

ThinkProgress: Michael Cohen reportedly breaks his silence, takes shot at Rudy Giuliani

Donny Deutsch, an advertising executive who has known Cohen and Trump for years, revealed on MSNBC that he had a conversation with Cohen on Thursday. According to Deutsch, in that conversation Cohen said that the narrative Giuliani had constructed around the Stormy Daniels payment was false.

"I spoke with Michael Cohen yesterday, and his [comment] about Giuliani was that he doesn't know what he’s talking about. He also said that, 'Look, there are two people that know exactly what happened — myself and the president, and you’ll be hearing my side of the story,'" Deutsch said.

Deutsch described Cohen as “very frustrated” with Giuliani’s attempt to spin the facts.

As one Common Dreams staffer—though typically it's our job to know—asked while sharing the following tweet: 'Seriously, what the fuck is going on?"

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
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