Trump Follows ‘Quiet, Piggy’ by Berating Another Female Reporter
Between Republicans’ big election losses and the resurgence of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, it’s been a stressful month for Donald Trump. So the president has fallen back into an old, comforting habit: hurling sexist insults at women who dare to question him.
Trump’s making disgusting comments about female critics (calling Alicia Machado “Miss Piggy,” referring to Megyn Kelly having “blood coming out of her wherever,” etc.) was a major theme of the 2016 election. He toned down the nasty remarks about women while in office but never fully stopped (see much of his case against Kamala Harris). And of course, his agenda, aesthetics, and general vibe are all steeped in misogyny. But in recent days, Trump has been displaying his disrespect for women, and female journalists in particular, more openly than usual.
The first incident happened on November 14, when Trump was taking questions from reporters on Air Force One. Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey asked what Epstein meant when he wrote that Trump “knew about the girls.”
Trump dodged by raising questions about Bill Clinton’s relationship with the late sex offender (interesting strategy) and dismissing the contents of the newly released Epstein files. When Lucey tried to ask a follow-up question, Trump snapped, “Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,” while waving a finger at her.
As the moment went viral this week, Trump followed it up by berating another reporter, Mary Bruce of ABC News, on Tuesday in the Oval Office. Her offense: daring to ask about the appropriateness of Trump hosting Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, since U.S. intelligence concluded he had orchestrated the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump denounced ABC as “fake news,” defended his family’s business in Saudi Arabia, and insisted the crown prince has done a “phenomenal job.” Then he shrugged off the Washington Post columnist’s murder and dismemberment, which the prince has denied any involvement in.
“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said of Khashoggi. “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question about that.”
'You don't have to embarrass our guest.'
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 18, 2025
Trump defends Saudi crown prince as reporter asks about murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Live updates: https://t.co/N14UKEJ0HA
???? Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/1CyImCSkQP
When Bruce asked another good question a few minutes later, this time about the Epstein files, Trump attacked her further, calling her a “terrible person.”
“You know, it’s not the question that I mind, it’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter,” he said. “It’s the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who’s highly respected, asking him a horrible, insubordinate, and just a terrible question. And you could even ask that same exact question nicely. You’re all psyched up, someone psyches you over at ABC. You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.”
Trump calls a reporter “insubordinate” and “a terrible person” after she asks a question about Epstein. I’m not going to say what the question was because I think it’s worth turning up the volume to hear for yourself. pic.twitter.com/GEWQY2CKKA
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) November 18, 2025
Trump also said, “I think the license should be taken away from ABC. Because your news is so fake and so wrong,” suggesting FCC chair Brendan Carr “should look at that.” (Of course, Carr did just that over comments made by Jimmy Kimmel in September and it didn’t go well.)
On Tuesday, the White House defended Trump’s “Piggy” remark, claiming the only person out of line was Lucey.
“This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way toward her colleagues on the plane,” an administration official said in a statement. “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.”
So to recap, making Trump and other powerful men a bit uncomfortable is deeply offensive and totally intolerable. But journalists need to shrug off everything from sexist insults to state-sponsored murder. Hey, “things happen”!