Jacinda Ardern has vehemently denied claims Donald Trump thought she was Justin Trudeau’s wife during a recent visit to Asia.
Miss Ardern was quizzed on the matter on TVNZ after she reportedly shared the anecdote at the New Zealand Music Awards last week.
Comedian Tom Sainsbury, who shared a stage with the New Zealand prime minister at the awards show, said he was told the confusion came at the APEC summit in Vietnam.
‘When [Ms Ardern] met US President Trump at APEC, he mistook her for the wife of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau,’ Mr Sainsbury claimed on RadioLIVE.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern denied claims Trump thought she was Sophie Grégoire Trudeau
After hearing rumours about the supposed confusion, TVNZ’s morning show host Jack Tame took her to task in a six-minute grilling.
‘So two people say that you told them that Donald Trump mistook you for Justin Trudeau’s wife,’ Tame began.
‘Did Donald Trump mistake you for Justin Trudeau’s wife?’
Ms Ardern clarified, saying that ‘second-hand, someone said that they thought that it had happened… But in all my interactions, certainly Donald Trump didn’t seem to have confused me in all out interactions. But someone else observed this.’
The new prime minister was repeatedly forced to explain that she was ‘in a circle [when] someone else observed, what they took to be, some confusion [by Trump] over who I was’.
Wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau (left) does not appear to look similar to Jacinda Ardern (right)
Ms Ardern heard from a third party that Trump may have been confused about who she was
‘Not interested in that,’ Tame cut in, refusing to let the topic drop.
‘I want to know at the music awards, what is the story you told a comedian in a group of people was it simply that, “Hey guys, funny story, Donald Trump mistook me”… was it that, because that is what they say you told them.’
The New Zealand Prime Minister also denied telling Mr Sainsbury that Trump mistook her for the Canadian First Lady, explaining that she had ‘shared a yarn’ about someone else seeing Trump become confused about who she was.
Jack Tame (left) grilled Ms Jacinda Ardern for nearly all of her time on the breakfast talk show
Ms Ardern was clearly exasperated the she was being forced to repeat the story multiple times
‘I think I should never have recounted the story,’ she finally says, clearly exasperated after more than five minutes on the topic.
Tame then took a rebuke from his co-host Hillary Barry, who wasn’t pleased that the topic took up six minutes of the eight-minute segment with the New Zealand Prime Minister, with the final two minutes devoted to dental care.
Tame later defended himself by tweeting that ‘it was his job to ask questions’ and declined to comment further when contacted.