At a press conference, Donald Trump crossed a line that even the norm-breaking president has refused to do until today, praising the sprawling and baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, which the FBI labeled a domestic terrorism threat last year. In response to a question from NBC reporter Shannon Pettypiece, Trump said, “I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand that they like me very much, which I appreciate.”

This is the first time the US president has openly acknowledged the far-right conspiracy theory that has spread among some of his followers, though he has previously retweeted content from at least 200 QAnon-affiliated accounts and dodged a question on the subject on Friday.

“It’s this belief that you are secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals,” Pettypiece said. “Does that sound like something you are behind?”

“Is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing?” Trump responded, “If I can help save the world from problems, I’m willing to do it, I’m willing to put myself out there.”

Trump also said he is “saving the world from a radical left” and that believers of the theory are “people who love our country.”

QAnon is an online conspiracy that grew out of Pizzagate, an online narrative that falsely implied that prominent Democrats were participating in a child sex ring in the basement of a Washington, DC pizzeria. (There is no basement in the restaurant.) In 2017, a North Carolina man was sentenced to four years in prison after firing an AR-15 rifle in that restaurant under the delusion that he was “investigating” the claim.

QAnon has been popular on online messaging boards and social media sites, leading to attempts by social media companies to limit its spread. In June, Twitter said it banned accounts associated with the conspiracy because its supporters frequently engaged in targeted harassment. Facebook followed suit on Wednesday, saying it removed groups, pages, and accounts associated with the group.

Last week the Anti-Defamation League warned that some people who believed in the conspiracy theory had engaged in violence.

“While ADL does not believe that all QAnon adherents are inherently extremists, the public proliferation of these conspiracy theories is dangerous,” the group wrote in an August 13 blog post. “To date, QAnon followers have been linked to multiple instances of real-world criminality in the name of the conspiracy, including murder, vandalism, arson, kidnapping, terrorism, and assault with a dangerous weapon (firearms).”