President Donald Trump on Friday addressed his claim that former President Obama wiretapped him during the 2016 campaign, joking that he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had "something in common, perhaps."
Trump previously accused Obama through Twitter on March 4 of wiretapping Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign.
Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
While there has been no evidence to publicly support Trump's claim, Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer and other White House aides have stood by investigations into Trump's allegations.
Trump's joke aimed at Merkel refers to Obama approving the surveillance of Merkel's communications starting in 2010. This was revealed through leaks orchestrated by fugitive U.S. defense contractor Edward Snowden, that showed "US spy agencies accessed the electronic communications of dozens of world leaders and possibly millions of foreign nationals," the Huffington Post reported.
A German reporter asked Trump whether he ever regretted some of the tweets that he sent.
"Very seldom," Trump said. "Probably wouldn't be here right now–very seldom. We have a tremendous group of people that listen and I can get around the media when the media doesn't tell the truth, so I like that."
"As far as wiretapping, I guess by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps," Trump said.