A telephone conversation with Barack Obama is prized, even craved, by politicians across America and the world. But when the President-elect called Ileana Ros-Lehtinen she hung up on him. Twice.

Thinking that the call was a hoax, the Republican congresswoman greeted him the first time, saying: “You know, you’re a better impersonator than that guy who does Obama on Saturday Night Live.” When he insisted that he really was Mr Obama, Mrs Ros-Lehtinen said: “You’re so good, but honestly I’m too jaded for this. It’s a great prank. I love it when they do it to everybody, including me. Thank you very much.”

According to the account by Mrs Ros-Lehtinen, Mr Obama persevered, saying: “How can I convince you that this is Barack?” She replied: “Yeah, sure, have a great day.” Then, she said it was case of “Plunk, I hung up”.

A few minutes later Mr Obama tried again through his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, who told her: “Ileana, I cannot believe you hung up on the President-elect.”

The Miami Congresswoman remained suspicious, however, refusing to believe that he really was Mr Emanuel. Then Mr Obama, who has been calling Congressional leaders to congratulate them on their reelection, came on the line only to be told: “Guys, it’s a great prank, really. I love it, but I’m not falling for it.” Plunk.

In a third attempt Howard Berman, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, on which she is the most senior Republican, telephoned urgently to inform Mrs Ros-Lehtinen that she risked offending Mr Obama. Even then she was sceptical, asking him to recount a private joke. When he passed that test, Mrs Ros-Lehtinen said: “I know this sounds very presumptuous, but please tell President-elect Obama he can call me now and I will take his call.”

Mrs Ros-Lehtinen defended her incredulity, saying she had thought that even though he sounded a lot like the President-elect, “why would Obama want to call a little slug on the planet like me?”

Mr Obama, who has perhaps grown tired of fawning conversations, apparently found it all quite funny. She said he told her: “Hey, in Chicago our radio stations are just as bad. They do these calls all the time. My staff will get a kick out of it. Whenever they think my ego is too big, they’ll remind me that even a lowly congresswoman hangs up on him not once but twice.”

They went on to have a chat about policy in Israel and Cuba, where she was born and a subject she has strong views about, having once apparently called for the assassination of Fidel Castro.

She had good reason to fear such calls after Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, was recorded talking to a Canadian radio broadcaster pretending to be Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President.

Mrs Ros-Lehtinen has also had her fingers burnt. Earlier this year the Latino show Enrique y Joe enticed her to climb up a stripper’s pole and placed the resulting video on YouTube.She described to Fox News her embarrassment over Mr Obama, saying: “Oh man, did I blow it big time. But little did I think that it was really going to be him because, you know, all of our radio stations all over the United States . . . they are wicked bad.”

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