ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl on Tuesday recalled speaking with President Donald Trump mere hours after he won the 2024 election, and compared Trump’s unbridled ego during that exchange to one of the most power-hungry characters in television history.
Karl sat down with “The View” to promote his new book “Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign that Changed America.” The anecdote about his phone conversation with the president was a standout for ABC’s former chief White House correspondent.
Karl prefaced the story by painting a picture of how relentless election nights can be for members of the press, and said he was finally able to go home around 4 a.m., but had to be alert and awake by dawn to discuss Trump’s victory on “Good Morning America.”
“I get back into my hotel, finally, after ‘Good Morning America,’ a little after 7 in the morning, and I do something kind of silly. I call Donald Trump,” he said. “There’s no way he’s going to pick up, but I figured I would just leave him a message, like, ‘After all this, congratulations, you won.’”
“And he picks up,” the journalist revealed. “And his voice, I mean, he hadn’t slept at all. I hadn’t slept. But [he goes], ‘Hello, Jonathan.’ And I said, ‘Mr. President-elect, I just want to say congratulations.’ And he [replies], ‘On what, Jonathan? On what?’ I was like, say it!”
