From Donald Trump’s first press conference in six months, at Trump Tower on Wednesday morning, this clip must surely rank among the most surreal. The event was meant to put to rest questions about Trump’s potential conflicts of interest, by listing steps he plans to take to separate himself from his businesses. He also came the closest he’s ever been to acknowledging the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia meddled in the election.
But when Trump started talking about unverified details from Russia’s alleged dossier on his behavior in a Moscow hotel room, things got weird.
Watch the clip above. Here’s the relevant portion of the transcript, from the New York Times:
TRUMP: Lemme just tell you what I do. When I leave our country, I’m a very high-profile person, would you say? I am extremely careful.
I’m surrounded by bodyguards. I’m surrounded by people. And I always tell them—anywhere, but I always tell them if I’m leaving this country, “Be very careful, because in your hotel rooms and no matter where you go, you’re gonna probably have cameras.” I’m not referring just to Russia, but I would certainly put them in that category.
And number one, “I hope you’re gonna be good anyway. But in those rooms, you have cameras in the strangest places. Cameras that are so small with modern technology, you can’t see them and you won’t know. You better be careful, or you’ll be watching yourself on nightly television.”
I tell this to people all the time.
