US President Donald Trump randomly called up a live TV broadcast to wish them luck with the show, while a woman giggled in the background.
C-Span debuted a new call-in show at 9pm on Monday evening, with host Mimi Geerges looking a little surprised that Trump had picked up the phone.
‘It looks like we’ve got a call from the White House, um, Mr. President, welcome to Washington Journal Primetime,’ she said.
Instead of Trump’s familiar voice answering, an unnamed woman can be heard laughing in response.
Then the US President said: ‘Well thank you, Mimi and good luck with the show. I’ve watched you numerous times and you do a great job.’
She asked Trump which C-Span programs he liked to watch and he replied that the call-ins gave him ‘a little bit of an indication of where we are’.
He said there were some ‘great’ Republicans on the line but wasn’t ‘so sure’ about the Democrats.
His comments come after his party faced catastrophic losses in the election, resulting in their opponents taking control of the Senate and House of Representatives.
It’s unclear who the woman on the phone was but some have speculated it could be Natalie Harp, his aide.
According to the Independent, she’s taken to screening calls on his personal phone, gatekeeping journalists’ access.
Harp has reportedly become closer to the president over the past few months, having consistently been seen by his side for several years.
The White House is still without a press secretary since Katie Zacharia exited in October after just a few days on the job.
Rumours spread that rapper Nicki Minaj was under consideration after her presence at various Trump events in the build-up to midterms.
Most recently, UFC boss Dana White declined Trump’s ‘joke’ offer of the role after the president posted about him on Truth Social.
Trump later confirmed: ‘We were having a very bad press day, and I don’t know why, I thought of his name; he’s been a friend for a long time.
‘I said I think I’m going to get Dana White to be my new press secretary. I said it to a group of the press, and that was it. I was sort of kidding.’
White told the room of reporters after Trump offered him the job again: ‘Thank you for the offer, sir. I do not want to be in politics.’
Trump and White’s business relationship goes back to 2001, when two UFC events were held at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@usnewsrank.com.
For more stories like this, check our news page.