Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unabashedly trolled the press during his speech at a private, conservative gala held at the Trump’s DC Hotel, pretending as if he didn’t know who owned “such a beautiful hotel” and then complimenting “the guy” who owned it.

Pompeo’s comments were made on the same day that a US appellate court revived an emoluments-related lawsuit filed by a public ethics watchdog that accuses Trump of unlawfully benefiting from his private businesses while in office. This comes on the heels of a US Air Force investigation into pilot crews staying overnight at Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland, Vice President Pence choosing to stay at Trump’s Doonbeg resort during a state visit to Ireland, and after the president pushed his own golf resort in Florida to host the next G-7 Summit.

The snarky remarks by Pompeo, captured by C-CSPAN, specifically called out the Washington Post, and were a thinly veiled jab at reporter David Fahrenthold, who has won a Pulitzer Prize for his dogged investigations into who and how much is spent at all of Trump’s properties.

“I look around. This is such a beautiful hotel. The guy who owns it must gonna be successful somewhere along the way,” Pompeo said as the audience laughed. “That was for the Washington Post.”

"I look around. This is such a beautiful hotel. The guy who owns it must gonna be successful somewhere along the way. That was for the Washington Post."@SecPompeo opens @CWforA #cwa40th remarks at @TrumpDC full video here: https://t.co/MBlXk9E9xn pic.twitter.com/URJc5u1hk8 — Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) September 13, 2019

Fahrenthold took notice of the subtle shout out, and used it as an opportunity to tout his paper’s coverage.

Secretary of State @SecPompeo reads the Washington Post. You should too!https://t.co/5pat6w8vad — David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) September 13, 2019

Screengrab via C-Span.

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