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President Donald Trump took a jab at CNN during a rare appearance on the network Sunday, telling anchor Jake Tapper he was “trying to have CNN go on a normal path” after being invited back for another interview.

The exchange came at the close of a phone interview on State of the Union in which Trump called in to pay tribute to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, his longtime political ally and friend.

After spending the interview discussing Graham’s life and legacy, Tapper started to ask about the war in Iran, but stopped after Trump said he didn’t want to discuss other topics out of respect for Graham.

“I don’t want to. Out of respect for Lindsey, I’m not talking about that,” Trump said when asked about the U.S. military action and tensions in the Middle East.

Instead, Trump reflected on Graham’s decades-long political career, calling him a “fantastic advocate” in the Senate and recalling that the South Carolina Republican had called him the night before his death after returning from a trip to Ukraine.

“I know you don’t want to talk about any other issues out of respect for Lindsey Graham, but we would love to have you back sometime because I do have a lot of other questions for you, sir,” Tapper said.

“Sure. We’ll do that. Sure,” Trump replied. “We’re trying to have CNN go on a normal path.”

Tapper quickly responded, “Well, I’m on a normal path right here, sir.”

“Good. You are,” Trump said.

Trump also praised Graham’s defense of then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during the 2018 confirmation hearings, calling it one of the senator’s defining moments.

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“I think it was a top 10, maybe a top five moment in the history of the Senate,” Trump said.

The interview marked one of Trump’s relatively infrequent appearances on CNN, a network he has frequently criticized throughout his political career.