A prickly President Trump attacked reporters on board Air Force One and lashed out at former allies at the Wall Street Journal and Fox News during one of the most bad-tempered days since he returned to the White House.
Trump grew more and more irate during a mid-air press gaggle as he flew from his Florida bolthole at Mar-a-Lago back to the hot seat in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, after another tumultuous week in office.
The back-and-forth came after Trump admitted in an interview that a recession was possible as a result of his economic policies. “Anything can happen, but I think we’re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country,” he told Kristen Welker during the chat on NBC’s Meet the Press, which aired Sunday.
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The same day, Trump appeared in front of the press on his jet and tried to appear cheerful, promising “good news” to come. But his mask soon slipped and he began berating reporters, rattling off insults against media enemies, pollsters, and, of course, Joe Biden.
In one particularly terse interaction, Trump butted heads with a Wall Street Journal reporter. The president has clashed with the Rupert Murdoch family-owned publication for months over its criticism of his market-crashing tariffs. Just last week, the paper’s editorial board ran an opinion piece claiming Trump’s levies could “sink his Presidency.”
He appeared to recognize a reporter from the paper and asked him who he was with. “That’s what I thought,” he snipped when the journalist said he worked for the Wall Street Journal.
“Boy, you people treat us so badly. Wall Street Journal has truly gone to hell. Rotten newspaper. You hear me, what I said? It’s a rotten newspaper.”
The president instructed the reporter to “go ahead” with asking their question, but then refused to answer.
“I wouldn’t tell The Wall Street Journal because it’d be wasting my time,” he said. “There are talks, but I don’t want to talk to The Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal is China-oriented, and they’re really bad for this country.”
The spikiness in the president’s demeanor comes as he feels the tug of gravity amid record-low approval ratings. Various polls suggest America is not convinced by his economics, despite Trump’s assertion that the polls are “FAKE!”
Fox News reported a meagre 38 percent overall approval rating, with just 33 percent approving of his tariffs and inflation policy.
In response, Trump called on Rupert Murdoch to fire his “Trump Hating, Fake Pollster” and wrote that “FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS… should be investigated for ELECTION FRAUD.”
He was at it again on board Air Force One Sunday, saying: “There’s a lot of fake polls where they interview Democrats and not Republicans.”
His run-in with Fox News had begun before he boarded the flight. He targeted long-time host Howard Kurtz in a Truth Social meltdown after the 71-year-old didn’t defend him with enough gusto during a segment on his economic performance.
In a Sunday panel discussion on the show, Kurtz, right-wing pundit Ben Domenech, and Democratic strategist Leslie Marshall clashed on the topic of Trump’s polling.
Kurtz, in Trump’s opinion, sat idly by while Domenench shouted down Marshall, winning the president’s approval.
After the episode, Trump said it was time for Kurtz to go.
“It is time for Howie Kurtz to retire!” Trump wrote. “Every Woke Anchor in the Business, people that no one watched from CNN, MSDNC, and others, are plastered all over his show, with all really negative and fake statements, and then I am weakly ‘defended’ by Howie and his group (although Ben Domenech has been strong!)”
Trump added: “The case Howie makes for me is so pathetic that it would be a lot better if he didn’t say anything. Anyway, that’s the way it is!”
Once he had returned to D.C. the day-long barrage continued. He fired off more abuse at another Fox News regular: Republican strategist Karl Rove.
Rove, too, had earlier highlighted Trump’s dire economic approval—saying that he mishandled the rollout of tariffs and misled the public about their real impact on prices.
Speaking during an interview with Fox News, Rove also criticized Trump’s handling of the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland dad who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison.
“I don’t need to have Karl Rove of Fox News to tell me what to do,” Trump shot back in a late-night post on Truth Social. “The guy’s a total Loser who’s been wrong about almost everything!”
On Air Force One, it was a question about ousted national security adviser Mike Waltz that set the tone. A journalist asked Trump if Waltz “resigned of his own accord.”
After high-profile mistakes including the Signalgate scandal and Waltz reportedly negotiating with Israel behind the president’s back, Trump moved him to serve as an ambassador to the United Nations. He has named his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, as acting national security adviser.
“He didn’t resign, I just moved him. There was no resignation. You people are so bad! You’re trying to make a big deal out of something,” he said.
“You are so bad, that’s why nobody watches you anymore,” he said, without knowing who the journalist represented. “Who are you with?” he then asked.
“Mr. President...” she began, before Trump barked: “Who are you with?!”
It transpired that he hadn’t heard of the title, First News.
His tetchiness continued to grow when he was asked about the potential for imminent trade deal announcements.
“You keep asking the same questions,” he snapped. “‘When will you agree?’ It’s up to me. It’s not up to them, it’s up to me.”
He then went off on a tangent about his predecessor Joe Biden and claimed that the country was “losing $5 billion a day” under his administration.
“I’m not saying this to be a wise guy with you, to be mean—I don’t wanna be mean to you—you know, you’re a good professional. But you do keep asking me that same question," he added.
After his tirade he surprised reporters by answering the question, saying that he would “set the deal” in the next 2-3 weeks.
He then attacked a reporter who grilled him on his comments about young girls getting fewer dolls for Christmas. “Let’s not waste a lot of time on a stupid question,” he said.
The tense 12 minutes ended with Trump complimenting his own work, doubting the unfavorable polls and slamming the media one last time. “I don’t think there’s been a better first 100 days. There’s a lot of fake polls where they interview Democrats and not Republicans...” he said. “It’s a shame how dishonest the media is. The media is corrupt and they’re dishonest and they’re so bad for our country. Thank you very much everybody!” he said, turning and walking away.
