President Donald Trump said Gordon Sondland “is not a man I know well,” as his ambassador to the European Union delivered bombshell testimony to the House impeachment panel Wednesday. “I don’t know him very well. I have not spoken to him much. This is not a man I know well,” Trump told reporters in a short statement at the White House before boarding Marine One. “He seems like a nice guy though... He worked for other candidates, too.”
The distancing came just moments after the president recounted Sondland’s impeachment hearing testimony and claimed it proves there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine for an investigation of the Biden family. Disputing his man in Brussels’ testimony, in which he said he had “a lot of conversations with the president” on several matters, Trump said he he wanted nothing from Ukraine. “I want nothing. I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. Tell Zelensky to do the right thing,” Trump quoted himself saying to Sondland from hand-written notes in thick black lettering, before adding “that means it’s all over.” Before leaving for Texas, Trump also pushed back against Sondland’s characterization that he was in a “bad mood” during their phone call. “They say ‘He was not in a good mood.’ I’m always in a good mood. I don’t know what that is,” he emphasized.
