Nicolai Haugsted
Trump says he loves an open press before losing patience with a female reporter’s questions.
Donald Trump’s already difficult relationship with parts of the American press has acquired another sharp exchange just days after a federal judge intervened in his administration’s fight with three major news organizations.
Saturday brought the dispute directly to the White House driveway, where MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner challenged the president over which journalists he believes should be allowed into the press pool.
Trump’s answer quickly became personal.
“No, no,” Trump replied according to The Mirror. “I want real news, not fake news like you. Listen, I want real news. I love an open, free press. What I don’t like is the fake press.”
Gardner was not finished.
“Do you not want tough questions?” she asked.
Trump raised his finger and replied: “Wait, wait. Quiet.”
“What I don’t like is fake news. And they’re fake news.”
The exchange came during an escalating legal and political battle over White House media access.
Gardner presses Trump on who gets through the door
Gardner’s question did not arrive out of nowhere.
Trump had announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House after repeatedly accusing the organizations of unfair and inaccurate coverage.
Reporters from all three organizations were subsequently denied entry before US District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily ordered the administration to restore their credentials. Kelly found that the outlets had not received constitutionally adequate due process before their access was revoked.
The courtroom defeat did not completely restore the old arrangement.
CNN was later prevented from serving its scheduled role aboard Air Force One for Trump’s trip to Tennessee, keeping the wider fight over press-pool participation alive.
Gardner therefore asked Trump whether he only wanted supportive outlets included in the pool.
Trump rejected that suggestion while returning to one of his favorite complaints about the media.
He claimed CNN and MS NOW suffered from poor ratings and again accused both organizations of producing “fake news.”
Obama gives Trump another question about women
Later the same day, Trump found himself answering a very different question involving his predecessor.
Barack Obama had recently floated a political thought experiment about what might happen if women temporarily ran every government.
“If you put women in charge of every government for like two years and then just kind of saw alright how are things going, I have a strong belief that things would — they wouldn’t be perfect — but they’d be better,” Obama said.
Trump was not persuaded.
“It’s ridiculous,” Trump said.
“I love women. I think they’re great. But what a ridiculous statement that is.”
Trump’s response rejected Obama’s broad argument rather than making a claim that women should not hold political power. Reporting on the exchange confirms that he characterized Obama’s proposition itself as “ridiculous.”
Trump and female reporters have been here before
Gardner is hardly the first female journalist to receive a cutting response from Trump.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins has repeatedly clashed with the president during questioning. Trump attacked her in June by saying she had “hatred in her eyes” and adding: “I never see a smile.”
He had previously called Collins “stupid and nasty” after she questioned him about his proposed White House ballroom.
Another particularly harsh exchange came last November, when a female Bloomberg reporter attempted to question Trump about Jeffrey Epstein.
“Quiet, piggy,” Trump told her.
The White House defended his manner at the time by saying the president is “very frank and honest with everyone.”
