It was an off-the-cuff remark heard instantly around the world, befuddling spectators of President Trump’s freewheeling Wednesday news conference, who appeared conflicted about whether it was polite, rude or a mixture of both. 
 
 “Yes, please, Mr. Kurd. Go ahead,” Trump said to Kurdish journalist Rahim Rashidi as he called on him to ask a question about U.S. relations with the Kurds. 
 
 The answer from Trump was nearly drowned out by the social media frenzy that ensued, as people wondered whether they had heard the president correctly. The clip started circulating and wound up in highlight reels of the news conference. “Mr. Kurd” started trending on Twitter. 
 
 But of those shocked by Trump’s remark, Rashidi, a reporter for Kurdistan 24, was not among them. 
 
 “Hello, this is Mr. Kurd,” he said as he answered the phone late Wednesday night, several hours after he went viral. 
 
 "Mr. Kurd." He called a man Mr. Kurd. Because he has an accent and asked a question about the Kurds. @realDonaldTrump #PressConference — Michael Seitzman (@michaelseitzman) September 26, 2018 
 
 This Trump presser. 
 
 You know you should switch off but just can't. 
 
 
 
 He referred to a Kurdish reporter as 'Mr Kurd' 
 
 
 
 What is going on. — Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) September 26, 2018 
 
 For Rashidi, Trump’s acknowledgment of his identity as a Kurdish person as the world looked on was far from insulting. Instead, it was a moment of pride, he said. 
 
 “I loved it, because all the time our identity is ignored by the Turkish government, by the Iranian government,” he told The Washington Post. “We are proud of our struggle for democracy, for justice, for freedom. He made me so happy when he called me Mr. Kurd. It was a moment of respect for us, for me.” 
 
 The Kurds are “one of the world’s largest peoples without a sovereign state,” with a “history marked by marginalization and persecution,” as the Council on Foreign Relations has put it. About 30 million Kurds live in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, and “many who remain in their ancestral lands maintain a strong sense of a distinctly Kurdish identity,” the CFR wrote, amid their long-fought bid for independence. Rashidi said he was born in Iranian Kurdistan and later lived in Iraqi Kurdistan until 2000. At that point, he fled to Turkey and later Sweden as a legal refugee, he said. He now lives in Washington, D.C. 
 
 I get your point but given the denial of identity by the governments forced on Kurds, its cool to hear such recognition by POTUS on the world stage. https://t.co/vubjQmPNq5 — Yerevan Saeed (@YerevanSaeed) September 27, 2018 
 
 On Wednesday night, other Kurds also expressed appreciation for Trump’s acknowledgment of their identity, including another Kurdish journalist in the room. Majeed Gly, New York bureau chief for Rudaw Media Network, said on Twitter that he would “actually take it as a compliment if you call me Mr. Kurd.” 
 
 “There is an outcry on social media as if Trump was being disrespectful,” Namo Abdulla, the Washington bureau chief for Rudaw, said on Twitter. “He was not! I am #Kurdish and Mr. Kurd is my colleague. Kurdishness is an identity most Kurds are openly proud of.” 
 
 I identify as #MrKurd and I'm totally proud of it, I don't see how it's disrespectful, I only see recognition and racial respect in the statement, and I don't even agree with Trump all that much, but y'all people need to chill. — Khalid Mirany (@Khalid_Mirany) September 27, 2018 
 
 Amid a flurry of questions directed at Trump about the sexual misconduct allegations that have beleaguered Supreme Court nominee Brett. M. Kavanaugh, Rashidi asked Trump what the future relationship with the Kurds will look like in a “post-ISIS” world. Kurdish militias, allied with U.S. forces, have played a crucial role in Syria in the fight against the Islamic State. But the question on Kurds’ minds, Rashidi said, is whether the U.S. government will continue to support the Kurds after the Islamic State is defeated. 
 
 “We’re trying to get along very well,” Trump said in response. “We do get along great with the Kurds. We’re trying to help them a lot. Don’t forget, that’s their territory. We have to help them. I want to help them. They fought with us. They died with us. They died. We lost tens of thousands of Kurds, died fighting ISIS. They died for us and with us. And for themselves. They died for themselves. They’re great people. And we have not forgotten. We don’t forget.” 
 
 Rashidi said he found Trump’s answer more than sufficient. 
 
 “It’s given us something,” Rashidi told The Washington Post. “He’s given us hope.” 
 
 Asked whether he believed Trump’s moniker would stick, Rashidi said it’s already caught on. 
 
 “Just call me Mr. Kurd,” he joked. 

 President Donald Trump called on a foreign news reporter by referring to him as “Mr. Kurd” during a solo news conference in New York on Wednesday. 
 
 While taking questions, Trump called on the reporter and said, “Yes, please. Mr. Kurd, go ahead.” 
 
 Trump addresses a reporter as "Mr. Kurd" pic.twitter.com/fiYhHODYaE — Deena Zeina Zaru 👩🏻‍💻 (@Deena_Zaru) September 26, 2018 
 
 The reporter, identified by The New York Times as Kurdistan TV reporter Rahim Rashidi, didn’t seem disturbed by the reference and thanked Trump for calling on him. 
 
 “Thank you very much for your time, Mr. President,” Rahim replied, before asking Trump what the U.S. relationship with Kurds will be like now that ISIS has been defeated. 
 
 The moment quickly went viral on social media as people were left in disbelief over Trump’s cavalier reference. 
 
 "Yes, please. Mr. Kurd," said the President of the United States with another Kurdish journalist. — Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) September 26, 2018 
 
 I promised myself I wouldn't live tweet Trump's press conference but he just called this guy "Mr. Kurd" and wow. pic.twitter.com/6Sgq0rG6S1 — Briän Ries (@moneyries) September 26, 2018 
 
 This Trump presser. 
 
 You know you should switch off but just can't. 
 
 
 
 He referred to a Kurdish reporter as 'Mr Kurd' 
 
 
 
 What is going on. — Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) September 26, 2018 
 
 While many people were surprised by the moment, Rashidi welcomed it, according to the Times. 
 
 “I love it,” he told Times reporter Michael M. Grynbaum after the news conference. “He made me happy by this sentence.” 
 
 I just spoke with “Mr. Kurd.” 
 
 
 
 His name is Rahim Rashidi, he works for Kurdistan TV, and he is thrilled. 
 
 
 
 “I love it!” he said of Trump. “He made me happy by this sentence.” — Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) September 26, 2018 
 
 In response to Rashidi’s question, Trump said that the U.S. and the Kurds are “trying to get along very well.” 
 
 “We’re trying to help them a lot,” the president said. “We do get along great with the Kurds. We’re trying to help them a lot.” 
 
 He added: “They fought with us. They died with us. They died. We lost tens of thousands of Kurds, died, fighting ISIS. They died for us, and with us. And for themselves. They died, but they are great people. And we don’t forget.” 
 
 41 PHOTOS Donald Trump golfing through the years See Gallery Donald Trump golfing through the years US President Donald Trump drives a golf buggy on his golf course at the Trump Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire, where he and his wife Melania, spent the weekend as part of their visit to the UK before leaving for Finland where he will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin for talks on Monday. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images) US President Donald Trump on his golf course at the Trump Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire, where he and his wife Melania, spent the weekend as part of their visit to the UK before leaving for Finland where he will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin for talks on Monday. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images) US President Donald Trump drives a golf buggy on his golf course at the Trump Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire, where he and his wife Melania, spent the weekend as part of their visit to the UK before leaving for Finland where he will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin for talks on Monday. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images) US President Donald Trump drives a golf buggy on his golf course at the Trump Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire, where he and his wife Melania, spent the weekend as part of their visit to the UK before leaving for Finland where he will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin for talks on Monday. 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Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN. U.S. property magnate Donald Trump practices his swing at the 13th tee of his new Trump International Golf Links course on the Menie Estate near Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain June 20, 2011. To match Special Report USA-ELECTION/TRUMP-GOLF REUTERS/David Moir/File Photo Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump drives a golf cart with his granddaughter Kai Trump on the golf course at his Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland, June 25, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri U.S. property mogul Donald Trump leads a media event on the sand dunes of the Menie estate, the site for Trump's proposed golf resort, near Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain May 27, 2010. 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 In an earlier exchange, Trump asked a journalist where he was from, and the journalist identified himself as a Kurd. This prompted Trump to compliment Kurds as “great people” and “good fighters” who helped the U.S. defeat ISIS. 
 
 Trump held the news conference on Wednesday hours after a woman named Julie Swetnick publicly accused Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of being present at a party where she was gang-raped around 1982. 
 
 Swetnick is the third woman to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh. 
 
 At the news conference, Trump told reporters that he believed all of the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh are “false.” 
 
 This article originally appeared on HuffPost. 
 
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– There were some gasps and raised eyebrows from Twitter after President Trump on Wednesday called upon a reporter during a news conference using the name "Mr. Kurd." Rahim Rashidi is not among the aghast, and his opinion matters more than most: He's Mr. Kurd. As the Washington Post reports, Rashidi, a Kurdish journalist who reports for Kurdistan 24, wanted to ask Trump about US relations with the Kurds, some 30 million stateless people who live across Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, and have helped the US in the fight against ISIS. Trump said to him, "Yes, please, Mr. Kurd. Go ahead." Rashidi, frankly, was thrilled. "I loved it, because all the time our identity is ignored by the Turkish government, by the Iranian government," he tells the Post. "We are proud of our struggle for democracy, for justice, for freedom. He made me so happy when he called me Mr. Kurd. It was a moment of respect for us, for me." Indeed, the Post notes that when it telephoned Rashidi late Wednesday, he picked up the phone with a new greeting: "Hello, this is Mr. Kurd."