WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush has apologized for poking fun at a Los Angeles Times reporter for wearing sunglasses during a news conference in the Rose Garden.

Video: Bush Teases Reporter
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Bush, who often teases members of the White House press corps, told Times reporter Peter Wallsten he was sorry Wednesday after he poked fun at him for wearing sunglasses, not realizing they were needed for vision loss.

Bush called on Wallsten during a news conference in the Rose Garden and asked if he was going to ask his question with his "shades" on. The reporter offered to remove the sunglasses. But then Bush said, "I'm interested in the shade look. Seriously."

"All right, I’ll keep it, then," Wallsten said.

"For the viewers, there's no sun," Bush said.

Wallsten said, "I guess that depends on their perspective."

To that, the president said, "Touche."

Even though the sun was behind the clouds, Wallsten needs the sunglasses because he has Stargardt's disease, a form of macular degeneration that causes progressive vision loss. The condition causes Wallsten to be sensitive to glare and even on a cloudy day, can cause pain and increase the loss of sight.

Wallsten said Bush called his cell phone later in the day to apologize and tell him he didn't know he had the disease. Wallsten said he told the president no apology was necessary.

"He said, 'I needle you guys out of affection,'" Wallsten said. "I said, 'I understand that, but I don't want you to treat me any differently because of this."'

Wallsten said the president said he would not treat him differently, so Wallsten encouraged him to "needle away."

"He said, 'I will. Next time I'll just use a different needle,"' Wallsten said.

The reporter said his only complaint is that the president didn't answer his question about White House credibility at the news conference.