President Trump’s comment to rallygoers that it would feel “phony” for him to get a dog reportedly came after pressure from his daughter-in-law to adopt a furry companion.
ABC News reported Tuesday that Lara Trump, the wife of the president’s son Eric Trump and a Trump campaign adviser, has recently pushed her father-in-law to adopt a dog.
Lara Trump is known to be a fierce rescue animal advocate and, along with top Florida Republicans, played a role in pushing for a ban on ending greyhound racing in the state.
{mosads}Speaking at a rally in El Paso, Texas, on Monday, President Trump, while telling an anecdote about drug detection dogs, said it would feel “phony” to have a White House dog.
“I wouldn’t mind having one, honestly, but I don’t have the time,” he said. “How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn?”
“Feels a little phony, phony to me.”
He also noted that he has been told to get a dog because it would look “good politically.”
“I said, ‘Look, that’s not the relationship I have with my people,’ ” Trump said at the rally.
Trump is the first president in over a century to not have an official White House pet.