Thinking he was being pranked, British politician Boris Johnson hung up on his first call from President Donald Trump, according to London's The Sunday Times.
"The person had a mild Irish accent and said, 'This is the No. 10 switchboard, we have got the president of the United States for you; I am just going to patch you through to the White House situation room,'" Johnson, the former U.K. foreign secretary, told the Times. "Thinking quickly as I do, I said, 'To all our listeners on Radio Kilkenny,' I was not fooled for an instant."
Johnson claimed he called the switchboard back and was told it "indeed it was the president," per the report.
Johnson, a potential candidate to succeed resigning Prime Minister Theresa May, has had a mercurial position on the U.S. president, once suggesting President Trump's "clearly out of his mind" and "unfit for office" for suggesting a U.S. ban on Muslim immigrants.
But President Trump has been praised Johnson's prospects to be the next prime minister.
Johnson admitted he had finally spoken to President Trump, despite having to turn down a meeting when the president visited England this past week because of a prior commitment, according to the report.
"[Trump] not only wished me well but was very keen to intensify our economic co-operation and to do a free trade deal," Johnson told the Times.
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