Trump Jabs at Jack Smith During Oval Office Meeting With South Korea’s Lee

President Donald Trump interrupted South Korean leader Lee Jae-myung during joint remarks in the Oval Office on 25 Aug 2025, joking that the Seoul-appointed “special prosecutor” Lee mentioned might be “Deranged Jack Smith,” Trump’s preferred epithet for the U.S. special counsel investigating him. Trump added that Smith had been “taken from our country,” repeating criticism he has frequently directed at the American prosecutor. Lee, referencing an ongoing fact-finding inquiry authorized by South Korea’s National Assembly, did not respond directly to the quip. The exchange occurred after a reporter asked Trump about his unverified claim—attributed to unspecified intelligence—that South Korean churches were being raided, a notion Lee sought to clarify by citing the domestic probe. The unscripted moment underscored Trump’s continuing effort to frame Smith as politically motivated even during high-profile diplomatic events, while momentarily diverting attention from the meetings’ formal agenda, which the White House has yet to detail.