President Donald Trump’s came completely unglued during a tense exchange at the White House after a reporter pressed him with a question he clearly did not want to answer.
The clash erupted during a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday — a meeting Trump staged with a military flyover and horse-drawn carriage — just as the House had voted 427 to 1 to release the Epstein files and the Senate prepared to pass it later that evening.
Trump would go on to sign the authorization the very next day, but in that moment he was still pretending his hands were tied.
But ABC News chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce broke through the pageantry the moment Trump opened the room for questions.
“Mr. President, why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?” she asked, pushing directly on the pressure point Trump had been dancing around all week.
Trump snapped instantly.
“It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter,” he seethed. “It’s the way you ask these questions.”
“You start off with a man who is highly respected, asking him a horrible, insubordinate, terrible question,” he continued, escalating even further. “You could even ask that same exact question nicely.”
Then came the direct attack, “You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.”
Trump insisted he had “nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” claiming he once threw Epstein out of his club for being a “sick pervert.” But as he rambled through that defense, Bruce pressed again — triggering the moment that sent the room into chaos.
With his hands up, visibly rattled, Trump issued a threat.
“Your crappy company is one of the perpetrators,” he snapped. “And I’ll tell you something — I think the license should be taken away from ABC. Because your news is so fake and so wrong.”
“We have a great commissioner… who should look at that,” Trump added, invoking FCC Chair Brendan Carr as if he could personally strip a broadcast license.
He ended the tirade by trying to shut her down altogether.
“The way you ask a question, with the anger and the meanness — it’s terrible. You oughta go back and learn how to be a reporter. No more questions from you.”
But the damage was done — and the internet erupted.
“That’s exactly the kind of journalism we need all…the…damn…time!! And the more dipshit whines, threatens, name calls, says “fake news” the more he looks like a crazy person who can’t handle the heat. Our enemies must love this!” raved Keith on Threads.
Another fumed, “ATTITUDE??? Attitude?? Do you know who has created such a horrible attitude in this country? In this white house?? What a horrible person you are and you are doing a horrible JOB.”
“He always attacks reporters that ask him tough questions. What a bullying little boy he is,” said Jerome.
Others pointed out why the Epstein question seemed to pierce Trump’s armor.
“Because he wants his name out, that’s what’s taking so long. A Democrat hoax? You must have an exact twin we don’t know about. Stop blaming democrats for YOUR … UP!!!” said Elsie.
Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko was even harsher, posting the clip with the caption: “Trump really is a scared and cornered New York City sewer rat on Epstein.”
Several were fixated on Bruce’s stoic reaction and her relentless push back that some applauded.
Another added, “I love how she nodded through his BS and still asked him to release the files.”
— YK Don (@iamykdon) November 19, 2025
Trump’s hostility toward Bruce had already surfaced minutes earlier when she asked a different uncomfortable question — whether it was appropriate for the Trump family to conduct business with Saudi Arabia while he was president.
“Is that a conflict of interest?” Bruce asked, before turning to bin Salman.
“U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you? And same to you, Mr. President?”
“Who are you with?” Trump demanded sharply.
“I’m with ABC News, sir.”
“Fake news,” Trump spat. “One of the worst in the business.”
He then claimed his children run his businesses and that he has brought “$21 trillion” into the economy — a number his own Treasury Department has debunked.
“As far as this gentleman is concerned, he’s done a phenomenal job. You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial … he knew nothing about it,” Trump said, contradicting U.S. intelligence findings from his first term. “You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”
Online, viewers were floored by Trump’s unraveling.
“Dude has such a frail ego…all he does is deflect and cries like a baby. SMH,” another X user wrote. “Once he says FAKE NEWS just know he has no comeback,” one viewer wrote.
“Kudos to the ABC journalist. He tried to intimidate her with his elementary bullying and threats of censorship. She did not backdown. This is journalism,” added another.
Trump went on to claim his children are running his business while he’s focused on m
“And we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Trump berated Bruce.