What To Know
- C-SPAN denied rumors that President Trump called into their Washington Journal program under the pseudonym “John Barron.”
- The speculation arose after a Trump sound-a-like complained about the Supreme Court’s ruling on global tariffs.
- Trump publicly criticized the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision against his tariffs, expressing his frustration both to reporters and on social media.
C-SPAN has shot down speculation that Donald Trump called into the network’s Washington Journal program on Friday (February 20) under the pseudonym “John Barron.”
Rumors spread on Friday after the Trump sound-a-like called into the show to complain about the Supreme Court’s ruling on the president’s global tariffs. The caller identified himself as John Barron, a pseudonym that Trump previously admitted to using throughout the 1980s when he wanted to speak to journalists.
“This is the worst decision you ever have in your life practically,” the man told C-SPAN’s Greta Brawner on the call. “This is a terrible decision, and you have Hakeem Jeffries, who… he’s a dope. And you have Chuck Schumer, who can’t cook a cheeseburger. Of course these people are happy… But true Americans will not be happy.”
Many viewers took to social media to speculate on whether the caller was actually Trump or just someone doing a Trump impersonation.
a guy who claimed to be named John Barron and sounded a lot like Trump called into C-SPAN to complain about the Supreme Court’s tariff decision and call Hakeem Jeffries “a dope”
(John Barron is a pseudonym Trump has used for himself when talking to journalists) pic.twitter.com/UixNjll7NB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 22, 2026
C-SPAN aimed to clear up the rumors on Sunday (February 22), tweeting, “Because so many of you are talking about Friday’s C-SPAN caller who identified himself as ‘John Barron,’ we want to put this to rest: it was not the president.
The post continued, “The call came from a central Virginia phone number and came while the president was in a widely covered, in-person White-House meeting with the governors. Tune into C-SPAN for the actual president at the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.”
Because so many of you are talking about Friday’s C-SPAN caller who identified himself as “John Barron,” we want to put this to rest: it was not the president. The call came from a central Virginia phone number and came while the president was in a widely covered, in-person…
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 22, 2026
Trump has hardly made a secret of his frustrations over the Supreme Court ruling, which saw justices vote 6-3 against his global tariffs.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” the president told reporters Friday, per TheWrap.
Following the ruling, Trump took to the social media app Truth Social, calling the decision “ridiculous” and “anti-American.” He also declared he was raising global tariffs to 15 percent “effective immediately.”
