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Boy Scouts and Mexican President Deny Trump Claims of Phone Calls

HeadlineAug 03, 2017

The White House admitted Wednesday that Donald Trump never received a “thank you” call from the head of the Boy Scouts of America—as Trump claimed—for a speech the president gave last month to about 40,000 boys at the National Scout Jamboree. Trump made the claim in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, whose transcript was later published by Politico. In it, Trump boasted, “I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful.” Boy Scouts Chief Executive Michael Surbaugh and other top Scouts officials denied ever calling the president. Last week, Surbaugh apologized to those who were offended by Trump’s political rhetoric. Meanwhile, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has denied another of Trump’s claims, made at a July 31 Cabinet meeting.

President Donald Trump: “The president of Mexico called me. They said their southern border, very few people are coming because they know they’re not going to get through our border, which is the ultimate compliment.”

After Mexican officials denied any such call ever took place, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president did not lie about the incident. Sanders instead said the conversation happened as Trump and Peña Nieto met in person at last month’s G-20 summit in Germany.

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