White House Trump on Ann Coulter: 'I don't know her'

Ann Coulter?

"I don't know her," President Donald Trump said at a press conference Friday, describing his relationship with the conservative commentator who has introduced him at rallies.


Asked Friday whether conservative media personalities influenced his policy on building a border wall, the president denied commentators like Coulter and Fox News' Sean Hannity pushed him to declare a national emergency to get a physical barrier on the southern border. The question came after Fox network figures and conservative commentators prodded the president to declare an emergency over the past few months and railed against him for ending the government shutdown without over $5 billion for the wall.

But Trump insisted Friday that the emergency declaration he had just issued was his own doing.

"They don't decide policy. In fact, if I went opposite — they have somebody, Ann Coulter, I don't know her. I hardly know her. I haven't spoken to her in way over a year. The press loved saying 'Ann Coulter.' Probably if I did speak to her, she'd be really nice. I just don't have the time to speak to her," Trump said.

Coulter was an early, vocal Trump supporter who eventually condemned the president over his slow progress on a border wall. The conservative author mocked the president in December when the White House announced it would accept a funding bill without securing over $5 billion for the wall.

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"The chant wasn't 'SIGN A BILL WITH B.S. PROMISES ABOUT "BORDER SECURITY" AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE, GUARANTEED TO FAIL!' It was 'BUILD A WALL!'" Coulter tweeted at the time.

Shortly after, Trump refused to sign government funding legislation, sending the country into the longest government shutdown in U.S. history over funding for a wall. The president eventually agreed to sign wall-free funding legislation after 35 days, ending the shutdown and again stoking the ire of conservative commentators, who pushed him to declare a national emergency. Trump declared that national emergency Friday, a step likely to be quickly tied up by legal challenges, while also signing a massive, largely bipartisan funding bill that contains no money for a border wall but will avert a second government shutdown.

Coulter was unimpressed with the compromise. The conservative pundit wanted congressional funding for a wall and doubted an emergency declaration would be enough.

"No, the goal of a national emergency is for Trump to scam the stupidest people in his base for 2 more years," she tweeted early Friday morning. "The goal is to get Trump's stupidest voters to say "HE'S FIGHTING!" No he's not. If he signs this bill, it's over."