Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate told an ABC reporter to “f*** off” before walking away from a press conference, after the Trump Organisation described his account of dining with US President Donald Trump as a “complete fabrication”.
The confrontation took place on Tuesday as Tate faced questions about his February visit to Florida, where he had travelled to discuss a proposed Trump-branded tower on the Gold Coast.
Tate has previously said he shared tomahawk steaks and “expensive wine” with Mr Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort. “Mate, I had dinner with him,” he told Triple M Gold at the time.
However, the White House said Mr Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had not dined with Tate’s group. The Trump Organisation later issued a statement directly rejecting the mayor’s version of events.
“Mayor Tate’s account of what occurred is a complete fabrication,” a spokesperson said.
“President Trump has never had dinner with Mayor Tate. While the President was on the patio, he briefly said hello to the Mayor’s table, as he typically does with guests at Mar-a-Lago.”
The statement added that Mr Trump then went to a separate dinner which had “absolutely nothing to do with Mayor Tate or his event”. It said any suggestion that the president had attended an event connected with Tate was “categorically false”.
Tom Tate disputes account of Donald Trump dinner
Asked about the statement, Tate did not withdraw his claim. “I’ve had, yes. And the matter is private,” he said when questioned about whether he had dined with Mr Trump.
Asked about the White House’s account, he replied: “I say that re-creation may vary.” Tate added: “All I know is I’m there, the President was there, Eric was there, Lara was there, First Lady was there, my First Lady was there.”
He declined to say how long he had spoken to Mr Trump or who else had been sitting at his table, repeatedly telling journalists that the matter was private.
When a reporter read out the Trump Organisation’s claim that his account was a “complete fabrication”, Tate said: “All I can say is what I’m telling you is what I believe is correct.”
Questions then turned to the cost of the trip and whether Tate had travelled to Mar-a-Lago as mayor or in a private capacity.
Tate had previously said the Trump Organisation covered his accommodation, meals and airport transfers. He later amended his register of interests after receiving an invoice and paying the costs himself.
He said he had initially believed the organisation had paid because no invoice was available when he checked out, but later received one and settled it personally.
Asked whether he had always intended to pay for the trip himself, Tate said: “You can always say my intentions.”
As the journalist continued to question him, Tate asked: “Why are you so aggressive?” He then asked whether the reporter was from the ABC.
When the reporter confirmed that he was, Tate walked towards him and said: “Yeah, f*** off,” before leaving the press conference.
The February visit came shortly before the announcement of a proposed 91-storey, 1.5 billion dollar Trump-branded development at Surfers Paradise. The project, involving the Trump Organisation and Queensland developer Altus, was later scrapped.
