Comedian Says He Prank Called the White House — And Got Through to President Trump on Air Force One

Comedian John Melendez may have just found a new, innovative way to reach the leader of the free world: a prank call.

On hisStuttering John Podcaston Wednesday, Melendez called the White House posing as Sen. Robert Menendez’s assistant and asked to be connected toPresident Donald Trump.

Melendez says the president soon called him back aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington, D.C., from a rally in North Dakota. An audio recording of the call appears to back up the comic’s claim.

“Hi Bob. How are you, congratulations on everything. We’re proud of you,” a voice purportedly belonging to the president says in the recording. “Congratulations, great job. You went through a tough, tough situation and I don’t think a very fair situation, but congratulations.”

President Donald Trump speaks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin from the White House.

From that point forward, the faux-senator (Melendez), had the president’s ear. He asked questions about Trump’s impending Supreme Court nominee and his since-reversed “zero tolerance” immigration policy, which has resulted in more than 2,300 children being torn apart from their parents at the border.

“My constituents are giving me a lot of beef about this immigration thing,” Melendez told the president, before asking how Trump plans to address the situation.

The president talked about “border security” as the focal point of this “real immigration bill.”

Melendez then pivoted to the Supreme Court vacancy following Justice Anthony Kennedy’s resignation. In response to the comedian’s question about Trump’s plans for the highest court, the president said he will “probably” make a decision in the next 12 to 14 days.

“I promise you, I will help if you don’t go too conservative, you know what I’m saying,” Melendez said to the president.

The call concluded with Trump promising to discuss his nominee with the pretend-senator — and Melendez telling the president: “Baba Booey to you.”

The White House did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

Sen. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, tells PEOPLE in a statement: “As someone who has spent my entire career trying to convince Republicans to join me in reforming our nation’s broken immigration system, I welcome any opportunity to have a real conversation with the president on how to uphold the American values that have guided our family-based immigration policy for the past century.”

“Tearing children apart from their mothers is not part of our proud history,” he added. “Thus far, this White House has only sabotaged every good-faith effort to find bipartisan common ground on immigration.”

Melendez, who used to appear onThe Howard Stern Show,was stunned that he had actually been patched through to the president.

“Holy s–t,” Melendez said moments after hanging up the phone.

The successful prank call has sparked concerns over White House security.

Politico’s Annie Karnie reportedthat the White House “has been scrambling this morning to figure out how this happened.”

Axios also reported that “White House staff members arefreaking out todaytrying figure out how the podcast host was so easily transferred from the White House switchboard to Air Force One.”

Others voiced concerns on Twitter.

“If Stuttering John is able to prank Donald Trump and get a live call from Air Force One, what THE HELL IS VLADIMIR PUTIN able to do?!” screenwriter Randi Mayem Singer tweeted.

source: people.com