At press conference, Donald Trump tried to take a question from a reporter who wasn’t even there

| 7:23 pm EDT May 18, 2017
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Donald Trump held a joint press conference today with the President of Colombia, but the reporters in the room had their minds elsewhere, instead opting to hit him with questions about his exploding Russia scandal. It turns out Trump’s mind was elsewhere as well, as he attempted to take a question from New York Times reporter Peter Baker – who wasn’t even in attendance.

When Trump called on “Peter Baker” for a question, it left the entire White House press corps confused, as he wasn’t in attendance. Baker tweeted his frustrations from afar: “Finally called on at a Trump news conference! Too bad I wasn’t there.”

Peter Alexander from NBC News later solved the mystery by revealing that he thought Trump might have been pointing at him while saying Peter Baker’s name:

But in the momentary chaos, reporter Scott Thuman from Trump-friendly news outlet Sinclair jumped in and asked a question instead.

This seemed to make Peter Baker even less happy, as he tweeted “Such a missed opportunity! Haven’t been called on at a press conference since Obama’s first term. Maybe next time I can get Sinclair’s spot?”

Donald Trump wouldn’t be the first person giving a press conference to call on a regular reporter who happened not to be there that guy, confusing him for another reporter with the same first name. But the context here may be important. Now that Trump finds himself embroiled in an exploding Russia scandal that’s likely to take him down, and he’s suddenly facing the prospect of a special counsel prosecuting the case, it’s fair to say that he was more than a bit distracted during today’s press conference. Just ask Peter Alexander. Or Peter Baker.