‘He Cooked’: Trump Brushed Off Claims He Jinxed the Knicks — Then Unleashed a Vicious Shot That Sent an Already-Boiling Feud Into Full Meltdown
Two of the most outspoken talking heads in America have got the world’s attention.
New Yorkers had a meltdown after President Donald Trump‘s attended Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals between the NY Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs.
In the days and even minutes before the game on June 8, he was warned not to show up.
But he did anyway, and got the most unwarm welcome any president has seen inside Madison Square Garden.
ESPN talk show host Stephen A. Smith specifically warned Trump that he should take the blame if the Knicks lost their first NBA Finals game in the city since 1999.
Hours before tipoff on “First Take,” Smith argued, “This president has no business showing up in New York City. I am dead serious. It is selfish. It is narcissistic. It is ridiculous that he is coming to this game.”
Despite loud pushback from Knicks fans on television and online, Trump attended the game anyway. Heightened security frustrated locals and created long lines outside the arena.
Trump watched the pregame festivities from an MSG skybox with his 19-year-old granddaughter, Kai Trump. He stood for the national anthem as former “The Voice” contestant Avery Wilson performed.
Fans loudly booed the POTUS when his face appeared on the arena screens, and cameras also appeared to catch him dozing off during the game.
The Knicks’ 115-111 loss ended their 13-game winning streak.
When reporters asked Trump about the team’s jinx and being blamed for the defeat, he brushed it off.
“I think he’s a nice guy, but you need a certain aptitude to run for president,” Trump told a reporter on the tarmac of John F. Kennedy International Airport right before he left New York early Tuesday morning.
He continued with a vicious shot, adding, “You need a high IQ. I’m not sure that Stephen has that. I don’t think he does actually.”
Smith returned to his battlegrounds at ESPN on Tuesday morning to shut down complaints about Trump hurting NYC’s momentum.
He blasted the president for his “own selfish, narcissistic motives,” adding that he needs to rethink mentioning intelligence.
“You wanna talk about IQ? I could say I’d put my IQ up against yours any day of the week. I could go one better. I could ask you why you’ve been running from me for the last year, since I’ve wanted to talk to you.”
Standing before an American flag with “Hail to the Chief” playing, Smith warned Trump not to keep “tugging” at him. The lifelong Knicks fan also promised to address the feud further on his podcast.
Reporter: Stephen A. Smith said he would blame you if the Knicks lost tonight how do you respond
Donald Trump: I think he’s a nice guy but you need a certain aptitude to run for president. You need a high IQ, I don’t really think Stephen A Smith has that
LLLMMFFAAOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/8nodMdflUh
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod
(@big_business_) June 9, 2026
Smith has teased running for office. His White House aspirations followed his criticism of the current administration and expressed praise for some of Trump’s policies.
Trump leaned on one of his go-to insults by questioning Smith’s intelligence.
He has used the “low IQ” insult against Joe Biden, Jasmine Crockett, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Don Lemon, and Charlamagne tha God, to name a few.
“Donald Trump and high IQ don’t even go in the same sentence,” one person expressed on X in response to Trump’s clapback at Smith.
Similarly, someone flipped Trump’s comments back at him by sarcastically wondering, “Is the high IQ in the room with us?”
“Trump describes a Black man as not having a high IQ?? How unusual,” read another tongue-in-cheek reply to the president’s remarks.
Smith also caught heat, as one person posted, “All that bootlicking, and the dumbest president of our lifetime called you stupid.”
On the flipside, some Smith supporters see Trump’s counterattack as a possible blessing in disguise for the podcaster, because SAS can use the headline-grabbing exchange for clicks and views for his show.
“This entire thing has turned into a f–king circus, lmao. Stephen A. is gonna eat off this for at least a month,” offered another X poster. Additionally, a tweet read, “Great, now this will cue Stephen A. Smith to scream in a video for a full minute.”
Another like-minded individual wrote, “While he cooked Stephen A, I’m mad we’re going to hear about this non stop from Stephen A all year and more he’s been fed.”
Trump returned to his hometown hoping to enjoy a Finals game, but the chilly reception underscored how deeply divided New York remains over its most famous native.
As Americans continue to grapple with rising prices and economic frustration, even a night of basketball turned into another reminder that strong feelings about the president follow him everywhere — including back home.