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When and where did Trump allegedly call a reporter 'piggy'?
Executive summary
On Nov. 14, 2025, during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump interrupted a Bloomberg reporter’s question about newly released Jeffrey Epstein files and said “Quiet, quiet, piggy,” a line captured on video the White House posted and reported across outlets [1] [2]. The reporter has been identified in many outlets as Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey; the White House defended the president’s remark by accusing the reporter of “inappropriate and unprofessional” behavior toward colleagues on the plane [3] [4].
1. What happened, in plain sight
Video of the interaction — an Air Force One gaggle on Nov. 14, 2025 — shows a female Bloomberg reporter beginning to ask whether, “if there’s nothing incriminating in the files,” the president would act to release them; Trump pointed at her, cut her off and said, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy,” according to the footage and multiple news accounts [1] [2] [5].
2. Who the reporter is reported to be
Many mainstream outlets named the journalist as Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg’s White House correspondent [3] [6]. Some reports note Lucey’s background at The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press and that Bloomberg’s reporter started at the White House beat in March 2025 [3].
3. Why the question mattered — the Epstein files context
At the time, Democrats had recently released thousands of pages of documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein, and reporters were pressing the administration about whether Trump would support broader disclosure; the exchange occurred while the House was poised to vote on releasing additional Epstein-related records [7] [8].
4. Official defense and pushback
A White House official did not deny the phrase but defended the president, saying the reporter “behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane” and adding, “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take it,” a statement cited in coverage and in the Snopes review [1] [4]. News outlets reported the defense and noted that the official provided no public evidence substantiating the claim about the reporter’s behavior [1].
5. Media reactions and broader patterns cited
Journalists, advocacy groups and former media figures criticized the remark as demeaning to a female reporter; commentators pointed to past examples where Trump or people around him used pig-related insults toward women, including allegations involving Alicia Machado and prior administration remarks about other journalists [9] [10]. Outlets framed the incident as part of an ongoing pattern of incendiary language toward the press [6] [11].
6. Disputed details and what sources do not say
Available sources consistently report the date (Nov. 14, 2025), location (aboard Air Force One), the wording used and that the reporter was a Bloomberg correspondent identified as Catherine Lucey [1] [3] [2]. Sources do not provide independent, on-camera evidence in those articles that the White House’s claim about the reporter’s behavior toward colleagues is true; Snopes and other reports note the official’s statement but also that it did not supply proof [1]. If you are asking about alternative versions of the exchange or a deniable transcript that contradicts the videos cited, available reporting does not mention any such contradictory primary source [1].
7. How different actors framed it — politics and optics
Supporters of the president framed the episode as an overblown squabble and echoed the White House line that reporters should accept pushback; critics portrayed it as emblematic of abusive rhetoric and an assault on press norms, especially given the gendered insult [4] [10]. Opinion pieces and editorialists interpreted the moment through those existing partisan lenses, with outlets like The Guardian and Newsweek focusing on the insult’s implications for press treatment and the White House rebuttal stressing procedural context [9] [7].
8. What to watch next / verification steps
For further verification, consult the original White House video cited by Snopes and news outlets, watch full gaggle footage for context and monitor any statement from Bloomberg or Catherine Lucey herself for clarification; current reporting documents the clip and contemporaneous reactions but does not include a public, detailed substantiation of the White House’s claim about the reporter’s behavior [1] [2].
Limitations: this summary relies solely on the cited contemporaneous news accounts and the Snopes review; available sources agree on date, place, wording and reporter identity but differ in interpretation and none published evidence independently corroborating the White House’s claim about on-plane behavior beyond its statement [1] [4].