New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, sat down with TVNZ1’s breakfast show and explained a moment where U.S. President Donald Trump confused her with Justin Trudeau’s wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau.
“It’s a trifling matter,” she said. “It was a bit of a funny year – something I don’t want to cause a diplomatic incident over. I’m sure you’ll appreciate that.”
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The awkward encounter hit the press through a radio interview with comedian and friend of Ardern, Tom Sainsbury. Ardern told Sainsbury about the mishap backstage at the New Zealand Music Awards.
“She said that Donald Trump was confused for a good amount of time thinking she was Justin Trudeau’s wife,” he recalled.
While Ardern admitted to telling her pal the story, she revealed Sainsbury’s version was “second-hand.”
Ardern first met Trump and Trudeau at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit earlier this month, “I’m in a circle. I’m with someone else. I didn’t hear the full conversation,” she explained. And that “someone else” told her that they believed Trump confused her for Gregoire Trudeau.
“They observed what they believed to have been mistaken identity,” Ardern added. “But in my interactions, (Trump) seemed to have it clear.”
Now, Ardern regrets ever sharing, “Tom’s a mate of mine,” she said. “I shared a story with him; he shared it with someone else. I can see how that then spirals.”
“I think I should never have recounted the story,” she continued.
