President Donald Trump scolded a female journalist taking part in a press scrum at the White House on Friday for being “very aggressive,” the latest in a string of negative comments the president has made about female reporters in recent weeks.
“You have to be nice and easy, nice and easy,” Trump told the reporter, who appeared to be NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor. “She’s very aggressive.”
The president later called on the reporter, who asked Trump about his reaction to the latest batch of Epstein photos released Friday, which included images of Trump with a large group of women with their faces blurred out.
The Independent has contacted Alcindor for comment.
Trump has gone head-to-head with Alcindor before.
In September, he accused the White House correspondent of being “fake news” and “second-rate” when she pressed him about an AI image he shared suggesting the administration was about to declare “war” on Chicago as part of its immigration crackdown.
In 2020, during a Covid briefing, Trump told Alcindor to “be nice” and to not “be threatening” during one exchange, inspiring an outpouring of support for the reporter and the hashtag #WeLoveYamiche.
President Trump has used harsh language to brush off multiple female reporters in recent weeks, labeling them “stupid,” “incapable,” “ugly,” and in one case last month, telling Bloomberg White House correspondent Catherine Lucey to be “quiet piggy.”
When reached for comment, the White House shared a statement it offered after past criticism of the remarks.
“President Trump has never been politically correct, never holds back, and in large part, the American people re-elected him for his transparency,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “This has nothing to do with gender – it has everything to do with the fact that the President’s and the public’s trust in the media is at all time lows.”
White House officials have pointed to other comments where Trump tangled with male reporters in a similar fashion, including an October comment that a male Reuters reporter was “third-rate” and earlier remarks blasting a Wall Street Journal reporter for being associated with a “rotten” outlet.
Critics argue the president reserves particular venom for female reporters, and female reporters of color even more so.
During his first term, Trump lashed out at a string of African-American female journalists in quick succession, describing questions from CNN’s Abby Phillip as “stupid” and those from Alcindor as “racist.”
Later, during his 2024 campaign, he had a memorable clash with reporters during an event at a National Association of Black Journalists conference.
Trump grew angry when asked how Black voters could trust him after making the inflammatory remark that Vice President Kamala Harris had only recently “happened to turn Black.”
“I don’t think I’ve been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” Trump told ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott. “You don’t even say hello, how are you.”
The president frequently demonizes the press at large, and has called journalists purveyors of “fake news” and the “enemy of the people.”
