Trump interview walkout is latest clash with female reporter

President Donald Trump walked out of an interview with NBC after he was challenged on multiple claims by the show’s presenter, Kristen Welker, in the latest of multiple clashes with female journalists.

Trump’s treatment of journalists, both male and female, has surfaced repeatedly throughout his political career as his relationship with the press has often been adversarial.

Since the beginning of his second term in office, the president’s treatment of female journalists has regularly come under scrutiny through high-profile clashes with reporters from different outlets.

At the close of 2025, over the space of a few weeks, Trump asked a reporter if she was a “stupid person,” said “quiet, piggy” to another, and described another as “terrible.”

These instances, in turn, raised questions over his treatment of women in the field and comes at a time when female journalists face mounting attacks both on and offline. A 2021 report from UNESCO found that nearly three-quarters of female journalists surveyed had experienced violence online, and one-fifth said that they had been attacked or abused offline in connection with online violence.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment outside of regular working hours.

Trump Walks Out of Interview with Kristen Welker

In the interview, which aired on Sunday’s Meet The Press, Welker questioned Trump on the conflict with Iran and the two discussed the “anti-weaponization” fund, a now-dropped plan to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate individuals that claim they were unfairly investigated or targeted by the government, which drew strong criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, who had argued it could result in payments to those prosecuted over the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

They then discussed the events on January 6, and Trump repeated the unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

He then said that there was cheating in the California primary election. At the time of the interview, votes were still being counted in a number of races which will determine which candidates will be on the ballot in November, including for the state’s governor.

He was pressed for evidence on this by Welker, to which he responded, “All I have to do is look, and I listen.”

After being pressed again, he said: “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid.”

“You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged, you know that I won an election in a landslide, and I got 94 percent bad press. You know why I got that? Because you have no credibility,” Trump said.

Welker told the president: “You’ve never presented evidence that it was rigged.”

The president refuted this and said, “You have more evidence; there’s more evidence than ever presented.”

He continued, “Your elections in this country we’re like a third-world country. Your elections are crooked. And you’re crooked. And Meet The Press is crooked and so is ABC, and CBS, and CNN.”

He then cut the interview short and said: “Sorry, let’s call it quits ‘cos I’ve had enough.”

He thanked her, called her “darling,” and placed his hand on her shoulder as he left.

A Broader Pattern

Trump has regularly clashed with female reporters at press briefings, Oval Office appearances and social media posts. While Trump has long clashed with journalists broadly, regardless of gender, some observers have noted that his exchanges with female reporters include direct personal criticism, often after the reporter has asked a question about politically sensitive topics.

The confrontation with Welker came days after one with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, whom Trump has clashed with on numerous occasions.

On Wednesday, June 3, Trump accused Collins of having “hatred in her eyes,” while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. He had been discussing the “anti-weaponization fund,” which he described as a “beautiful thing,” before going on to criticize CNN—something he has done regularly through his career in politics—calling it “crooked as hell” and “very corrupt.”

Speaking about Collins directly, he said, “She’s a young, beautiful woman (who) never smiles. I’ve never seen a smile off her face.”

In February, he said Collins was “the worst reporter,” and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile.”

In March, Trump shushed a female reporter on Air Force One before saying she was a “very obnoxious person,” in an incident that was captured on video and went viral at the time, becoming highly publicized.

The exchange took place during a press gaggle as he responded to questions about the Iran war. The journalist, who was not named but confirmed they were with ABC, asked the president about a picture of him at a transfer ceremony of soldiers in the conflict with Iran, being used in a fundraising email for his political action committee.

When asked about this exchange, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Newsweek, “Americans appreciate that President Trump tells it like it is—and obnoxious is obnoxious, no matter what gender you are.”

On November 14, Trump interrupted Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey with: “Quiet, quiet piggy,” after she attempted to ask a follow-up question, in a moment captured on video.

That same month, during an Oval Office exchange in November, Trump told ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce she was a “terrible person and a terrible reporter” after she asked a series of questions referencing Saudi Arabia. He also called the New York Times reporter Katie Rogers a “third-rate reporter,” who is “ugly both inside and out” in a Truth Social post after coverage about his health.

Dr Amy Tatum, a lecturer in communication and media at The Bournemouth Media School in England, previously told Newsweek, “President Trump may feel emboldened to speak this way about women as there has been little outcry or backlash to such comments he has made, or those made by other politicians or people in power.”

“The women in question are being insulted in front of global audiences. This potential public humiliation speaks to the open way in which men are permitted to criticize and attack women with little, if any, penalty for doing so,” Tatum added.

The International Women’s Media Foundation warned in late 2025 that Trump’s remarks point to a “pattern of targeting and harassing women journalists.”

They noted that public attacks can trigger online abuse and place reporters under additional pressure.

How The White House Has Responded

The White House has routinely defended the president when asked about these incidents.

In a statement given to Newsweek in November, White House spokesperson Taylor Rodgers said, “President Trump answers unrestricted questions nearly every single day from the failing legacy media, whose trust from the American people recently fell to an all-time low. President Trump provides candid answers for the American people while also holding the press accountable, just as he promised, whenever they shamelessly peddle fake news.”

“This is the most accessible and transparent administration in history—full stop,” Rodgers added.