Did President Trump call a reporter a 'piggy' and when did this occur?

1. What happened — the incident in plain terms

Video from a November 14, 2025, gaggle on Air Force One shows President Trump wagging a finger toward a female reporter who asked about the Jeffrey Epstein files; he interrupted her and said, “Quiet, quiet, piggy,” before answering other reporters ^{[1] [6] [2]}.

2. Who was the reporter identified as — naming and reactions

Multiple outlets identify the reporter as Catherine Lucey, a Bloomberg White House correspondent; People notes Lucey began working at Bloomberg earlier in 2025 and that Bloomberg later issued a statement defending its White House journalists ^{[4] [7]}. CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs is credited in several reports with first reporting that Trump called a Bloomberg reporter “piggy,” although initial posts did not always name Lucey immediately ^{[8] [3]}.

3. When and where it occurred — timing and setting

The exchange occurred on board Air Force One on Friday, November 14, 2025, during a press gaggle as Trump traveled to Mar-a-Lago; outlets publishing the White House video and reporting date the clip to that flight and day ^{[6] [1]}.

4. Why the question provoked the response — subject matter context

Reporters asked about newly released or about-to-be-released records tied to Jeffrey Epstein and whether incriminating material existed; Lucey’s question — paraphrased in coverage as “if there’s nothing incriminating in the files, why not act?” — was the line that preceded Trump’s interruption ^{[9] [6]}.

5. Official and media reactions — defense and condemnation

The White House responded by defending the president and blaming the reporter, saying she “behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way” and adding “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take” in one account of the statement ^{[1] [5]}. News organizations, press advocates and pundits criticized the remark as demeaning to female journalists and noted it in the context of past insults Trump has made toward women in media ^{[8] [10] [9]}.

6. How widely covered and how it spread — virality and outlets

The clip was posted by the White House and quickly circulated across U.S. and international outlets — including CNN, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Newsweek, People, Deadline, Euronews and others — which ran video or transcripts and commentary, making the exchange a viral media moment ^{[2] [8] [6] [3] [11] [7]}.

7. Competing perspectives and omitted details

Coverage shows two competing claims: outlets presenting the video and identification of the reporter as Lucey ^{[4] [6]}, and the White House asserting the reporter’s behavior justified the rebuke without providing supporting evidence in the public statement ^{[1] [5]}. Available sources do not mention any contemporaneous independent corroboration from other passengers on the plane that the reporter behaved unprofessionally beyond the video clip itself ^[1].

8. Larger context — prior patterns and why it matters

Many outlets linked the incident to a pattern of derogatory comments Trump has made toward women and journalists in past years, noting prior instances where he used nicknames like “Miss Piggy” for public figures; reporters and advocacy groups framed the remark as part of ongoing concerns about presidential conduct toward the press ^{[8] [9] [10]}.

9. What is certain and what remains open

Certainties in current reporting: the words “Quiet, quiet, piggy” were captured in the Air Force One clip from Nov. 14, 2025, and the reporter has been widely identified as Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey ^{[1] [4]}. Open questions in the sources: whether the White House’s claim about the reporter’s “inappropriate and unprofessional” behavior on the plane is supported by additional evidence beyond the administration’s statement — available sources do not mention such evidence ^[1].

If you’d like, I can compile the original White House video link referenced by Snopes and others, or assemble a timeline of related Epstein-file developments that week to show how the gaggle fit into broader news coverage ^{[1] [3]}.