Trump Chides ‘Failing New York Times’ and ‘Deranged Jack Smith’ Over Report on His Relationship With ‘Red Haired Weirdo’

President Trump is lashing out against the New York Times and other outlets reporting on his relationship with an Australian billionaire, Anthony Pratt, who reportedly went to great lengths to develop a relationship with the former president.Documents and recordings obtained by nine newspapers in Australia, as well as “60 Minutes” Australia and the New York Times, reportedly show that Mr. Pratt spent hundreds of thousands of dollars cultivating a relationship with Mr. Trump.According to Mr. Pratt, Mr. Trump disclosed information on topics such as American nuclear submarines or events like a 2019 airstrike on Iranian-backed militants in Iraq before it was available to the public. They also reportedly discussed the phone call during which he pressured Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate President Biden’s son, Hunter.“You know that Ukraine phone call, that was nothing compared to what I usually do,” Mr. Trump said, according to Mr. Pratt.Mr. Pratt also reportedly discussed paying “about a million bucks” to a key ally of Mr. Trump, Rudy Giuliani, saying, “Rudy is someone I hope will be useful one day.”A separate witness told investigators that Mr. Pratt had spent more than $1 million to attend the Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve gala, an event that normally costs $50,000 to attend.Mr. Pratt also claimed that during one of his visits to Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump asked the first lady, Melania Trump, to walk around the resort in a bikini “so all the other guys could get a look at what they were missing,” according to the “60 Minutes” Australia report.Mr. Pratt’s influence campaign also went beyond Mr. Trump, with the mogul cultivating relationships with King Charles well before he ascended to the throne, as well as with two former prime ministers of Australia, Tony Abbott and Paul Keating.To King Charles, Mr. Pratt reportedly made a payment of $182,000 in 2021, saying, “I see him as an undervalued political stock. It is just that he is a laughingstock now. But when he is king, [they] won’t be laughing.” He reportedly paid Mr. Abbot $8,000 a month and Mr. Keating $25,000 a month to keep them on retainer after they left office.Special Counsel Jack Smith eventually interviewed Mr. Pratt as part of the federal case against Mr. Trump for his taking of classified documents from the White House. Mr. Pratt, who is not accused of any crime, could potentially testify against Mr. Trump during the trial next year.Mr. Trump responded to the reporting by attacking both the “Failing New York Times” and “Deranged Jack Smith,” as well as the Department of Justice, calling Mr. Pratt a “red haired weirdo from Australia.”“I never spoke to him about submarines, but I did speak to him about creating jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania, because that’s what I’m all about,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.Mr. Trump also attacked one of the Times reporters who wrote the story, saying, “Maggie Hagerman and the Misfits never called me for a comment.”“Whether it’s correct or not is of ZERO importance to them. ‘All the News That’s Unfit To Print.’ That’s why we call it the Fake News,” Mr. Trump said.

Trump Chides ‘Failing New York Times’ and ‘Deranged Jack Smith’ Over Report on His Relationship With ‘Red Haired Weirdo’

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