President Donald Trump went off on a reporter who questioned the success of his ongoing war with Iran, calling his and other reporters’ work “treasonous” and emphasizing that the U.S. military could destroy Iran’s infrastructure “within two days.”
Trump launched a two-minute rant on board Air Force One on Friday when asked by New York Times reporter David Sanger why the U.S. continues to attack Iran despite not getting “the political changes” it initially set out for.
“We’ve had a total victory except like people like you that don’t write the truth. … I actually think it’s sort of treasonous what you write, but you and The New York Times and CNN I would say are the worst,” he said.
“And you should know better because you’re a professional. You know better,” he said, before adding. “I actually think it’s treason when you write like, they’re doing well militarily, and they have no navy, no air force, no anti-anything.”
Trump went on to say that the U.S. military’s attacks against Iran don’t have to end with its military.
“We could knock out their bridges and their electrical capacity within two days. We could knock out the whole thing. And then I read The New York Times, and they act like they’re doing well. Everybody knows, and that’s why your subscribers are way down,” he continued.
The president’s comments follow an increase in criticisms by Trump against female reporters in recent days, whom he’s repeatedly called “dumb” and “stupid.” Last year, he called one female reporter “ugly” and another “piggy.”
Trump described CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell as stupid” in an interview that aired on Fox News on Thursday. Earlier this week, he similarly said two female reporters were “dumb” and “stupid” as he took questions outside the White House.
Similar “stupid” comments were made by him to ABC News’ Rachel Scott last week.
A White House spokesperson defended his insults to JS on Tuesday, while championing him as someone who “has never been politically correct, never holds back.”
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.”