‘The Worst’: Trump Was So Rattled by a Reporter’s Follow-Up, He Lashed Out with a Wild Insult, But Her Final Question Turns the Heat Back on Him
President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter Sunday evening before boarding Air Force One, an exchange that unfolded as he faced intensifying questions about newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails and a growing split within his own party over courting extreme right-wing rhetoric.
The tense moment came when a reporter attempted to follow up with a question about the growing Republican divide over white nationalist Nick Fuentes and whether the party should embrace his racist views.
Trump halted mid-sentence, stared directly at her, and snapped. “Will you let me finish my statement? You are the worst — you’re with Bloomberg, right? You are the worst. I don’t even know why they have you.”
Social media critics heckled Trump for his typical abrasiveness toward the media.
“Actually, Mr President, you are the worst. You have the lowest rating of any American president. Can you explain why everyone hates you?” a commenter asked on Threads in a viral post.
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“Absolutely the rudest, most hateful person on the planet. Lowest of the low,” someone else chimed in.
Frustration boiled over for one commenter, who issued a scathing rebuke.
“The IQ of a man, that resorts to calling names and throwing stones, is sub 60. I think from this day forward, presidents should be subjected to IQ tests. No person with an intelligence quotient below 80, and thats generous, should be allowed to run. Ruining our country, by injecting it with stupidity.”
The reporter appeared to be Jennifer Jacobs, formerly of Bloomberg and now with CBS News.
Trump then continued responding to a question about Tucker Carlson’s recent interview with Fuentes. “If he wants to interview Nick Fuentes — I don’t know much about him — but if he wants to do it, get the word out, let him,” Trump said. “You know, people have to decide. Ultimately, people have to decide.”
Pressed moments later about having hosted Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago in 2022, Trump insisted he didn’t know Fuentes would be attending. “I didn’t know Nick at the time… he came along, with a few other people. [Kanye] West brought a few people with him. Uh, meeting people, talking to people, for somebody like Tucker, that’s what they do,” he said, adding, “You know, people are controversial. Some are, some aren’t. I’m not controversial.”
The fiery exchange came amid the president’s frustrations with the House Oversight Committee’s release of thousands of emails to and from Epstein, including a 2011 message in which Epstein claimed Trump “knew about the girls.” The remark has triggered fierce debate about what Trump may have known about Epstein’s conduct and whether he was involved.
Another email released by the committee quoted Epstein saying Trump “spent hours at my house” with a person whose name was redacted and replaced with the label “victim.” The White House has said that the person is Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein victim who committed suicide this year.
Asked Friday aboard Air Force One whether he understood Epstein’s implication when he said Trump “knew about the girls,” Trump responded, “I know nothing about that. They would’ve announced that a long time ago. It’s really, what did he mean when he spent all the time with Bill Clinton, with the president of Harvard, who you know, that is Summers, Larry Summers, whatever his name is, and all of the other people that he spent time with.”
Trump then tried to downplay his past relationship with Epstein, despite extensive documentation showing they were tight even after he became president in 2017.
“Jeffrey Epstein and I had a very bad relationship for many years, but he also saw a strength because I was president. So he dictated a couple of memos to himself. Give me a break. You gotta find out what did he know with respect to Bill Clinton, with respect to the head of Harvard, with the respect of all of those people that he knew, including JPMorgan Chase.”
The reporter then attempted to follow up by asking why he didn’t simply order the release of the files. “Sir, if there’s nothing incriminating in the files—” she began, but Trump cut her off. “Quiet. Quiet,” he snapped.