Getty Images President Donald Trump answers reporters’ questions at a news conference in New York on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump defended his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh a day ahead of a highly anticipated hearing on Capitol Hill and bashed Canada over trade at a rare solo news conference on Wednesday.
Following meetings at the United Nations, Trump called allegations against Kavanaugh a “big, fat con job,” but said he could change his mind on the judge’s nomination to the high court “if I thought he was guilty of something like this.”
Trump spoke after a third woman, Julie Swetnick, made accusations against Kavanaugh — that she was drugged and raped at a party where he was present in 1982. Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has alleged the nominee sexually assaulted her at a high-school party, are scheduled to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
Live blog recap: Trump calls attack on Kavanaugh ‘con job’
Trump also said he was unhappy with Canada over trade, telling reporters he rejected a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“His tariffs are too high, and he doesn’t seem to want to move,” Trump said. The president added he is thinking about taxing automobiles coming in from Canada. “That’s the big one,” he said.
Canada reportedly did not request a meeting with him, a journalist for CBC tweeted.
I am told by a senior Canadian official that Canada did not request a meeting with Donald Trump.
— Katie Simpson (@CBCKatie) September 26, 2018
Trump in addition fielded questions about Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, saying he may delay a planned meeting with him and that he would prefer not to fire him. Rosenstein had reportedly suggested wearing a wire in Trump’s presence and discussed the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.
“He said he never said it, he said he doesn’t believe it, he said he has a lot of respect for me and he was very nice, and we’ll see,” Trump told reporters at the New York news conference.
Rosenstein and Trump were scheduled to meet on Thursday, the same day as the Judiciary Committee hearing.
