reporter: president trump got the royal treatment whether he was wringing the hand of the first lady of france or complimenting her physique. or getting chummy with her husband, the president, somebody was missing. jim. a friend of mine. he s a very, very substantial guy. he love it is city of lights. he s told me for years paris. let me ask you a question, how is paris doing? paris? i don t go there anymore. paris is no longer paris. france is no longer france. reporter: he talked about jim so often trying to make the point that france had succumbed to terrorism that the new yorkers started hunting for jim in vain. he inspired means and tweets like just hanging out with hashtag jim but when the white house refused to say whether jim actually exists, thus was born