Trump Rages At ‘Obnoxious’ Reporter After Follow Up On Releasing Boat Strike Clip
President Donald Trump lambasted ABC senior political reporter Rachel Scott on Monday, calling her “terrible” and the “most obnoxious reporter” in the White House press corps.
The president raged at Scott after she asked a follow-up question on whether he would release classified footage of a September 2 military strike on a suspected drug boat — an attack that has led to controversy in recent weeks, with critics of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claiming there was an illegal second strike on the vessel.
“Are you committing to releasing the whole video?” Scott asked.
“Didn’t I just tell you that?” Trump said.
“You said it was up to Secretary Hegseth,” Scott replied.
“You are the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place. Let me just tell ya, you are an obnoxious — actually, a terrible reporter,” Trump responded. “And it’s always the same thing with you. I told you, whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is okay with me.”
His fiery answer came a moment after he argued with Scott about whether he had recently said he had “no problem” with releasing the footage. Trump has repeatedly attacked female reporters in recent weeks, including telling one, “quiet, piggy.”
Trump, on December 3, said, “I don’t know what [footage] they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release no problem.”
The president, when Scott asked him about that comment, said he “never said that” and called ABC “fake news.”
Trump then said “whatever” Hegseth decides to do is alright with him. He then said there has been a 94% reduction in drug boats smuggling narcotics into the U.S., and claimed each boat that is destroyed saves an average of 25,000 American lives.
The Trump Administration has conducted more than 20 of those strikes on suspected drug boats since early September.
Critics of Hegseth and the Trump Administration have said Hegseth committed a war crime by ordering a second strike on two survivors, after a suspected drug boat was hit on September 2, killing nine people initially. That controversy stems from a Washington Post report Hegseth ordered troops to “kill everybody” aboard the vessel; Hegseth has denied that report.
The New York Times reported soon after that WaPo’s order of events was incorrect, and that Hegseth’s “order was not a response to surveillance footage showing that at least two people on the boat survived the first blast.” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Thursday that Navy Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley denied WaPo’s report as well.
Watch Trump fume at Scott above, via Fox News.
