Photo: Getty Images
Podcaster Theo Von was a surprise guest at President Donald Trump's speech for U.S. troops in Qatar on Thursday. (May 15).
Von previously interviewed Trump during his campaign, a move the president said was made possible by his teenage son, Barron Trump, introducing him to the comedian.
“I want to influence you to clap for a man who’s a great influencer. In fact, my son, Barron, said, ‘Dad, you got to do an interview’ with somebody I hadn’t heard of. But my son knew very well,” Trump said to the troops at Al Udeid Air Base. “This is before the election. You know, we won in a landslide, in case you hadn’t known, but he said, ‘Dad, you got to do an interview with a guy named Theo Von.’ I said, ‘Who the hell is Theo Von?’ He said, ‘Dad, he’s such a big guy. You got to do an interview.’ So he knew all the names."
“Where is Theo? He’s around here someplace, I think. Theo, thank you very much,” he added. “We had a good time, right? A good time. We had like 270 million people that listened. So you know what? I think Barron was right. Thank you for being here, Theo.”
It's unclear why Von, who was previously spotted with Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, days prior in Miami, was in Qatar other than to great the 13,000 troops on the base. Barron Trump was reportedly "very vocal" in giving "advice to his father," with his mother saying it was “incredible how he brought in success because he knew exactly who his father needs to contact and to talk to.”
President Trump previously revealed that his teenage son was influential in him doing interviews on podcasts targeting a younger male demographic, which also included appearances on the Joe Rogan Experience, Flagrant with comedian Andrew Schulz, Logan Paul's Impaulsive and Barstool Sports' Bussin' with the Boys.