But this time, the question Trump avoided answering by making a personal attack was simply a reminder of something he said five days before, when he promised to reveal the video showing the possibly illegal strike on an alleged drug boat.
On Monday, ABC News reporter Rachel Scott pressed Trump on when this second strike video would be released, asking: « You said he would have no problem with releasing the full video of that strike on September 2 off the coast of Venezuela… »
But Trump interjected, falsely denying that he had ever agreed to releasing the video, saying: « I didn’t say that, you said that, I didn’t say that, this is ABC fake news. »
However, a transcript of the question on December 3 proves that he did.
Scott’s ABC colleague Selina Wang asked the president directly if video of the second strike would be released so that ‘the American people can see for themselves’.
In this moment, Trump appeared ebullient and even-handedly replied: « I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have we’d certainly release, no problem. »
He appeared to have no recollection of this promise five days later, something the ABC reporter pressed him on before pivoting to ask if Trump would order Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to release the video. He said he was now leaving it to Hegseth.
Trump then launched into a defence of his attacks on unmarked vessels that his administration claims are trafficking narcotics.
He made the unfounded claim that the ‘kinetic strikes’ had stopped ’94 percent’ of all drugs entering the US by sea, adding that each destroyed boat saves thousands of lives.
With the 79-year-old president beginning to ramble, ABC’s reporter attempted to turn his mind back to the release of the video, which has been shown to Congress in a private viewing.
But Scott’s persistence appears to irritate the Commander-in-Chief, who changes his tone to attack the reporter, saying: « You are the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place, let me just tell you, you are an obnoxious, actually, a terrible reporter. »
While in previous administrations a rebuke like this from the most powerful man in the world would have been potentially career-ending, Trump’s attack inspired empathy among some viewers.
« At this point, him calling a reporter terrible is a sign they are doing their job, » one viewer commented on Reddit.
As another said sarcastically: « He is an obnoxious President. Actually, a terrible President. »
