For years, President Donald Trump has transformed tense exchanges with reporters into television-ready spectacles, typically aiming to dominate confrontations through a commanding presence, public shaming, and a relentless barrage of retorts.
And every so often, a journalist finds the exact pressure point that drags Trump back into the fray and flips the script.
That dynamic resurfaced Friday, May 15, aboard Air Force One as Trump came back from a two-day session with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China, where a seemingly straightforward inquiry about the widening dispute with Iran rapidly devolved into a personal, combative clash that held the president’s attention for several minutes.
New York Times correspondent David Sanger pressed Trump on why he continued to threaten a renewed bombing campaign against Iran despite not achieving any of the “political changes” he had claimed to seek.
Trump Panicked When a Reporter Put Him on the Spot, Pushed a Woman Beside Him Into the Hot Seat to Save Himself, Then Sabotaged Her — and the Room Saw Everything
“You did it for 38 days and you did not get the political changes in Iran,” Sanger began, but a furious Trump immediately jumped in, berating the reporter for asking a pointed question about the administration’s ongoing campaign against the Islamic Republic as a fragile ceasefire held.
“I had a total military victory but the fake news, guys like you write incorrectly. You’re a fake guy. Guys like you write about it incorrectly,” Trump ranted.
“We had a total military victory,” Trump gaslighted, continuing to enumerate his claimed achievements in Iran, including demolishing the Iranian Navy and Air Force, its weapon systems and radar.
“We knocked out all of their leaders, number one, and then we knocked out all of their leaders in the second division and we knocked out numerous of their leaders in the third division,” Trump crowed as he puffed out his chest.
One of Trump’s declared aims for the initial attack on Iran on Feb. 28 was regime change. So, even after killing roughly 50 top Iranian officials, victory seemed elusive on that front as the Iranian regime remained firmly in control of the country.
But the angry president wasn’t finished. In fact, he was just warming up.
“We’ve had a total victory except by people like you who 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 fumed.
Even after turning to take another question from a different reporter, Trump appeared unable to let the exchange die, repeatedly circling back to Sanger as the confrontation pulled him deeper.
“You should know better, David. You’re a professional … you should be ashamed of yourself,” Trump snapped, visibly agitated as Sanger continued pressing him.
But instead of letting the moment fade, Trump kept taking the bait at every pushback. When the reporter attempted another rebuttal, Trump whipped back around and escalated the confrontation even more.
“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 raged.
The exchange only spiraled from there. As Sanger kept challenging him, Trump repeatedly turned back to reengage, at one point veering into a rant about dwindling New York Times subscribers before snapping “way down!” after yet another pushback from the reporter.
The nearly two-minute moment went viral, drawing thousands of reactions. One pointed response read, “Of all people, David Sanger, really? Come on Trump, you’re losing it.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has claimed a military victory in Iran. During an Oval Office event earlier this month, Trump told reporters, “I think we won” as he continued insisting the Iranians “want to make a deal badly.” But the regime has rejected all the maximal concessions terms the administration has put forward so far.
It’s uncommon for a U.S. president to declare victory in a war that’s still ongoing, even with a fragile ceasefire with Tehran still holding.
He kept stoking himself up as a BBC Radio reporter dared to pose another question.
“Who are you with?” Trump shouted.
The reporter answered, and Trump smirked, “Fake BBC.”
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“You mean the ones that put AI in my mouth? You mean the ones that had me saying a statement they now admit was not true? The ones who put terrible words in my mouth and had to admit it was fake?” Trump whined.
Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster in federal court in Florida, which is scheduled for trial next February.
Trump contends the BBC maliciously edited a 2021 speech he delivered to make it sound like he was saying something he didn’t say. The BBC apologized saying it was an editing error and has asked the court to dismiss the suit.
Since the start of his second term and even before that Trump has repeatedly called mostly women journalists names such as “stupid,” “nasty,” and “piggy” when he doesn’t like their questions.
Just this week he called two women journalists “dumb” and “stupid” while taking questions outside the White House, according to Huff Post.
