Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated his confrontations with ladies journalists, days after he referred to as a Bloomberg reporter “piggy” when she questioned him about releasing recordsdata associated to convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. The sooner alternate, which occurred aboard Air Power One, resurfaced on social media on Tuesday and drew sharp criticism.The recent controversy unfolded on the White Home throughout Trump’s assembly with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. ABC Information correspondent Mary Bruce questioned Trump on potential conflicts of curiosity involving his household enterprise and later requested the Saudi chief concerning the 2018 homicide of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump interrupted her, saying: “ABC faux information. One of many worst within the enterprise.”
Trump insisted he had “nothing to do” with the Trump Group, now run by his two eldest sons. He additionally backed the crown prince’s denial of involvement in Khashoggi’s killing. “You don’t must embarrass our visitor by asking a query like that,” he informed Bruce.Tensions rose additional when Bruce raised the difficulty of Epstein after Congress voted overwhelmingly to launch recordsdata linked to the disgraced financier, who died in 2019. Trump retorted: “It’s not the query that I thoughts. It’s your perspective. I believe you’re a horrible reporter.” He added he had “nothing to do” with Epstein and referred to as the scandal a “hoax”, earlier than telling her, “your crappy firm is without doubt one of the perpetrators.” He concluded the alternate by saying: “No extra questions from you.” Trump additionally urged the US broadcast regulator to “have a look at” revoking ABC’s licence.The White Home conflict got here to mild simply hours after the resurfaced Air Power One footage confirmed Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey asking Trump why he wouldn’t launch Epstein-related recordsdata “if there’s nothing incriminating within the recordsdata.” Trump pointed at her and replied: “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.” CNN anchor Jake Tapper referred to as the comment “disgusting and utterly unacceptable.”The back-to-back incidents have renewed criticism of Trump’s therapy of journalists, particularly ladies, as he faces renewed scrutiny over transparency and accountability.