Donald Trump berated a Newsmax reporter who questioned him about his deployment of ICE agents to American airports, repeatedly telling the reporter he wasn’t doing a “good job” and joking to the cameras like a schoolyard bully among cronies.
The strange moment took place in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday morning as the president prepared to board Air Force One to return to Washington. As he spoke with the media, one reporter in the press pool began by asking the president a fairly neutrally-worded question about his announcement that ICE agents would be deployed to major airports as TSA experiences staffing gaps due to a partial government shutdown.
Trump quickly snapped at the reporter, asking him “who are you with?” and repeatedly telling him “you’re not doing a good job” as he attempted to repeat his question. The president then joked, "I don't think he's gonna be at Newsmax long,” which was met with silence from the press corps.
It wasn’t clear what Trump’s issue was with the question, of which he only heard a few words, given that he answered questions and discussed the ICE deployment in the same gaggle moments later when questioned by other outlets — including CNN, whose question Trump took over Newsmax.
“I'm taking CNN over Newsmax. Can you believe it?” Trump quipped to other reporters, who ignored the jibe as CNN’s Kaitlan Collins proceeded to ask him about his decision to have those ICE agents at airports unmask.
Trump’s beefs with reporters on Air Force One have become semi-regular and the president is known for directing petty personal insults at various reporters. Collins, whom Trump took a question from without issue on Monday, is one of those frequent targets — most, but not all, of whom are women. In many cases the president’s insults have veered into shots at journalists’ physical appearance.
Trump has made remarks that many view as sexist and chauvinistic, in addition to being intended to goad reporters into confrontations. He has repeatedly remarked that Collins, who also anchors on the CNN network, should “smile” more often.
The president has a long history of making such personal insults towards anyone who gets on his nerves, especially his political rivals. Some have later come to join his administration, that includes Secretary of State “Lil” Marco Rubio, or have become his close allies in Washington, like Sen. “Lyin’” Ted Cruz.
Just last week, the president attacked a PBS reporter and called her “rotten” to her face after she countered his insistence that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” by Joe Biden.
Natalie Allison, a Washington Post reporter on the White House beat, was also the target of his rage in a confrontation last month.
“Where are you from?” Trump asked Allison during a gaggle on Air Force One. “Washington Post? Are you having a hard time getting readers? The Washington Post is doing very poorly… You have a very bad attitude.”
In that case, Trump did take the reporter’s question after berating her for her place of employment, rather than the question itself.
The questions directed to the president Monday largely concerned his ongoing war with Iran as well as the growing shortages of TSA agents across the country, a symptom of the DHS shutdown that has been ongoing since February. The White House and congressional Republicans have thus far failed to strike a deal with Democrats to secure votes to fund the agency as their counterparts demand reforms to the president’s enforcement strategies in exchange for their votes.
More TSA officers have begun calling out of work or not showing up for scheduled shifts, prompting the president to order ICE agents to deploy to major airports. On Monday, photos and videos from various airports around the country confirmed the presence of ICE agents who seemed to be largely performing patrol and guard duties rather than supplementing TSA at security checkpoints.
Among the reforms Democrats have demanded for their votes is the unmasking of ICE agents. Trump, on Monday, explained his decision to order ICE agents operating at airports to do so, and argued that ICE agents performing enforcement operations were dealing with “murderers” and other violent criminals (though his own DHS’s statistics show that the vast majority of detained immigrants do not have violent criminal histories).
“I've requested now, now you know I'm a big believer that they should be able to wear masks when they go knock down, you know, murderers, criminals and others. But for purposes of the airport, I've requested that they take off the masks. I don't like it for the airport, and I believe they are willing to do that,” said Trump. “The people coming into the airport, typically speaking, aren't murderers, killers, drug dealers, et cetera.”
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