White House makes astonishing claim about ‘giggling’ on Trump’s C-Span call

The White House has claimed that a woman's laughter heard at the start of President Donald Trump’s phone call to C-SPAN was "leftover audio from a previous caller who had not disconnected yet."

The statement was provided to Inside Edition following online speculation about the brief audio glitch during Trump's eight-minute interview on Monday night.

The exchange began around 9 p.m. when host Mimi Geerges introduced the segment, saying, “It looks like we’ve got a call from the White House.”

As the line connected, an unidentified woman could be heard laughing before a click sounded and Trump began speaking.

“Thank you, Mimi, and good luck with the show,” Trump said, making no reference to the laughter. “I’ve watched you numerous times, and you do a great job. But good luck with the show.”

Geerges also did not address the sound during the call, during which she struggled to keep the president on topic.

Social media users quickly began guessing who the voice belonged to, with several observers pointing toward the president's personal aide.

“Stephen Miller first day as chief of staff,” foreign policy journalist Laura Rozen posted online. “Natalie Harp audibly giggling as Trump calls into C-SPAN.”

Late-night comedians also mocked the mystery audio.

“Based on the happy laugh, experts are 100 percent sure it wasn’t Melania,” Jimmy Fallon joked on his show. “Trump was, like, ‘Don’t worry, that’s my assistant Natalie, and definitely not my new Chinese spy girlfriend.’”

Rather than addressing the mystery voice, Trump turned his focus to media coverage surrounding the logistics of the appearance. After The New York Times reported that his call to the network was unannounced, the president pushed back in a post on Truth Social around 1 a.m.

“The New York Times incorrectly reported that ‘Mr. Trump called into the premier of a C-Span show, APPARENTLY WITHOUT NOTICE.’ This is WRONG,” Trump wrote. “It was a fully scheduled call, as a favor to C-Span, set up through White House Communications. It was done at C-Span’s request, not mine. The Times knew this, but lied, in order to demean - But this is the least of their lies!”

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.