Are there recordings or transcripts confirming Trump called the press 'piggy'?
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Executive summary
Multiple mainstream outlets published video and accounts showing President Trump told a female reporter “Quiet. Quiet, piggy” during a November 14, 2025 gaggle aboard Air Force One; Reuters, The New York Times, The Guardian and others identify the reporter as Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey and quote the phrase verbatim [1] [2] [3]. The White House confirmed the encounter and defended the remark as “frankness,” while press groups and other journalists publicly condemned it [1] [4].
1. What the record shows: a viral clip and consistent reporting
Video of the Air Force One gaggle was published and widely circulated; news organizations report that in that clip Trump leaned toward a female reporter asking about Jeffrey Epstein files, pointed his finger and said, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy” [1] [3] [5]. Multiple outlets—Reuters, The Guardian, The New York Times, Newsweek, People and others—use the same wording and identify the moment as occurring on Nov. 14, 2025, making the phrase and its context a matter of public record in mainstream reporting [1] [3] [2] [5].
2. Who was on the receiving end: the reporter named in coverage
News organizations identified the reporter as Bloomberg White House correspondent Catherine Lucey after the exchange; profiles and follow-ups in People and other outlets supply her name while tracing her work history [6] [7]. Reports note she was off-camera when she began to press about a released Epstein email and that Trump interrupted and singled her out with the “piggy” comment [5] [7].
3. Official response: White House defense and spin
The White House publicly defended the president’s conduct through press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who framed Trump’s remark as evidence of his “frankness” and said voters re-elected him for that bluntness—an account Reuters, The Guardian and other outlets recorded [1] [4]. Leavitt’s statement also characterized Trump as “calling out fake news” when frustrated, a claim that reporting flags as presented without supporting evidence in that briefing [4].
4. Pushback from journalists and watchdogs
Media and journalism groups responded sharply. Reporters and organizations condemned the insult as demeaning—CNN’s Jake Tapper called it “disgusting and completely unacceptable,” and press watchdogs criticized the targeting of women journalists—coverage in The New York Times and The Guardian documents the backlash [2] [4]. Several outlets underscore that the clip “went viral” and triggered renewed scrutiny of Trump’s pattern of personal attacks on reporters [8] [3].
5. Consistency across outlets and limits of the public record
Major outlets consistently report the exact phrase and context; Reuters notes the exchange was captured in video of the gaggle and quotes the president directly, establishing the existence of a recording and transcript-like reporting of the words [1]. Available sources do not mention an independent verbatim White House transcript beyond the released gaggle footage and press reporting; they rely on the video and on reporters’ contemporaneous accounts to document the phrase [5] [1].
6. Alternative framings and implicit agendas in the coverage
Coverage shows competing framings. The White House framed the remark as plainspoken candor to appeal to supporters and to reframe media criticism [1] [4]. News outlets and journalism groups emphasized gendered degradation and press freedom implications, reflecting a watchdog role [2] [4]. Readers should note those are not neutral labels—each source’s selection of quotes and context advances a perspective: defense of presidential style versus concern about attacks on the free press [1] [4].
7. What this matters for public record and norms
The incident was documented on video and widely reported, so it entered the public record as a direct quote attributed to the president; White House staff publicly defended it, and press organizations publicly condemned it [1] [2]. The debate now centers less on whether it happened than on its normative meaning: whether such language from the White House is protected as blunt political style or intolerable degradation of journalists—positions reflected across the sources [4] [2].
Limitations: reporting here is based solely on the supplied articles; available sources do not mention any additional official transcript release beyond the gaggle footage and contemporaneous reporting, nor do they provide independent forensic confirmation beyond published video and press accounts [5] [1].