Trump cited Miss Universe contestants as evidence of Ukraine's 'great people' in newly released call with Ukrainian leader

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets US President Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 25, 2019.

• The White House on Friday morning released a memo detailing President Donald Trump's first call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which the two leaders exchanged pleasantries. 
• At one point, Trump mentions the "great people" from Ukraine who participated in the Miss Universe pageant that he formerly owned. 
• "When I owned Miss Universe, they always had great people," Trump told Zelensky. "Ukraine was always well represented."
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The White House on Friday morning released a memo detailing President Donald Trump's first call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which the two leaders exchanged congratulations on their respective election victories. 

At one point during the May call, Trump mentioned the "great people" from Ukraine who participated in the Miss Universe pageant, which he owned from 1996 to 2015. 

"When I owned Miss Universe, they always had great people," Trump told Zelensky. "Ukraine was always well represented."

In another instance, Trump falsely told Zelensky that a Ukrainian woman had won Miss Universe. But no Ukrainian has ever won the competition, despite several making it into the last rounds of the pageant. 

The president likely timed the release of the call memo to distract from testimony delivered by Marie Yovanovitch, who served as the US ambassador to Ukraine until she was abruptly recalled in May, in Friday's public impeachment hearings.  

During Trump's second official call with Zelensky on July 25, 2019, the US president pressured the Ukrainian leader to investigate his political opponents, a move that provoked Democrats to initiate the impeachment inquiry.