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Is there authenticated video or audio of Donald Trump calling a reporter 'piggy' and where is it hosted?
Executive summary
Multiple major news organizations and fact-checkers report that President Donald Trump told a Bloomberg reporter “Quiet. Quiet, piggy” during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on Nov. 14, 2025, and the White House itself posted video of the exchange on its YouTube page, which Snopes says is available there [1] [2]. Coverage and pool reporting identify Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey as the reporter addressed; the White House press office later defended the comment as “frankness” [3] [4].
1. What the reporting says — a short, consistent narrative
News outlets including BBC, Reuters, The New York Times, CNN, The Guardian and People all describe the same short exchange: while reporters were aboard Air Force One on Nov. 14, a Bloomberg reporter pressed Trump about Jeffrey Epstein-related files and the president pointed at her and said, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy,” before continuing to other questions [1] [5] [6] [7] [8]. Those outlets cite either the video clip or pool transcripts that circulated after the gaggle [1] [5].
2. Is there authenticated video or audio — where it’s hosted
Fact-checker Snopes reports that the full video of the exchange is available on the White House YouTube page and notes the clip took place Nov. 14 [2]. The BBC’s video page also hosts footage of the exchange in a clip and its reporting reiterates that the moment occurred aboard Air Force One [1]. Multiple outlets ran the same clip or stills drawn from that pool material, and pool video circulated widely online through established news organizations [5] [9].
3. Who did he address — identification disputes and consensus
Initial reporting named a Bloomberg reporter; subsequent coverage specifies Catherine Lucey as the journalist who asked the question and whom Trump singled out [3]. Some online posts and commentators suggested alternative renderings (for example, “Peggy” rather than “piggy”), and outlets such as the Daily Mail recount partisan pushback and conspiracy-style claims on social platforms — but mainstream outlets and pool transcripts attribute the phrase as “piggy” and identify Lucey [10] [11] [3].
4. The White House response and competing interpretations
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt publicly defended the remark, characterizing it as part of the president’s “frankness” and saying reporters should appreciate his openness; she and administration spokespeople framed the moment as frustration at what they called inaccurate reporting [4] [7]. Media-right and partisan outlets presented the remark either as harmless truth-telling or as an overblown attack on a reporter; mainstream press organizations and press-watch groups criticized the epithet as demeaning [12] [6].
5. Fact-checking and authenticity concerns
Snopes explicitly states the full video is on the White House YouTube page and does not deny the wording; it also reports White House commentary defending the president [2]. The BBC’s verify-style clip assembles the available footage and pool material, which supports the authenticity of the visual/audio record cited by major outlets [1]. Available sources do not mention any authoritative forensic claim that the video or audio was faked.
6. How people are using the clip — politics and amplification
The clip quickly went viral and entered late-night, opinion and social-media battlegrounds: late-night hosts and columnists used it to condemn the tone, while partisan websites and social posts sometimes sought to reframe or dispute details such as whether he said “piggy” or “Peggy” [13] [10] [11]. The Guardian and New York Times framed it in a broader pattern of the president’s treatment of female reporters; Fox and other right-leaning outlets emphasized the White House defense [14] [7] [12].
7. What to check if you want to view the source material yourself
Primary reporting points to the White House’s own video posting as the original published clip; Snopes cites that White House YouTube upload and the BBC and other outlets embed or reproduce the pool video [2] [1]. If you’re auditing the record, compare the White House video, BBC/Reuters/CNN embeds, and pool transcripts to see how outlets transcribed the line and how the administration described the context [2] [1] [5].
Limitations: my summary relies only on the provided items; I do not assert anything outside what those sources report. If you want direct links or exact timestamps from the White House YouTube page mentioned by Snopes, available sources do not list the precise URL or timestamp in the supplied material [2].