Who is 'Peggy' in media reports mentioning Trump and what is her full name and background?
Executive summary
Media coverage of the Air Force One exchange on Nov. 14 centers on whether President Trump called a Bloomberg reporter “piggy” or said “Peggy” — a debate that pits multiple news organizations against social posts and partisan defenders. Major news outlets identify the reporter on the receiving end as Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey and report Trump said “piggy”; other accounts and a viral AI claim named Margaret “Peggy” Collins as the intended target, but multiple outlets state Collins was not on the plane [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What reporters and outlets actually named the journalist in the clip
Mainstream outlets including CNN, Reuters, The New York Times, BBC, The Guardian and People identify the off-camera journalist who asked about the Epstein files as a Bloomberg reporter — specifically Catherine Lucey — and report Trump told a female reporter “quiet, piggy” during the Nov. 14 gaggle [2] [5] [6] [7] [8] [1]. These organizations quote the same White House video and contemporaneous reporting showing Lucey was the correspondent involved [1] [8].
2. Who is “Peggy” — the Margaret Collins claim and its provenance
The claim that Trump said “Peggy” and meant Margaret “Peggy” Collins comes largely from social-media posts and from Elon Musk’s Grok AI at one point, which asserted the name referred to Peggy Collins, Bloomberg’s Washington bureau chief [9] [10]. Some outlets and commentators amplified that theory, often framing it as a defense used by Trump supporters who argue audio ambiguity favors “Peggy” over “piggy” [3] [9].
3. Margaret “Peggy” Collins: title and background as reported
Reporting and profiles cited in the social debate describe Margaret “Peggy” Collins as the Washington bureau chief and executive editor for U.S. economy and government coverage at Bloomberg News — a senior editor and journalist with previous media roles listed on her professional profiles [10] [4]. However, those same items note Collins was not on Air Force One during the Nov. 14 gaggle, and outlets identify Catherine Lucey as the journalist who asked the question [4] [3].
4. Catherine Lucey: who she is and why outlets single her out
News outlets say Catherine Lucey is a Bloomberg White House correspondent who joined the outlet earlier in 2025 and previously worked for The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press; Lucey is the reporter identified in the White House video as asking about “incriminating evidence” in the Epstein files, and coverage records show Trump directed “Quiet, piggy” at that exchange [1] [6]. Multiple major outlets describe Lucey as the on-plane correspondent involved in the clip [1] [8].
5. Audio ambiguity and the role of partisan and AI amplification
There is documented audio ambiguity — engine noise and the off-camera question make the phrasing hard to parse — which has allowed competing interpretations to spread. Supporters of Trump pushed the “Peggy” reading on social platforms; an AI chatbot (Grok) initially said the president used the name Peggy before later clarifying that its conclusion was based on “ambiguous audio and hasty name association” [9] [3]. Independent playback analysis cited by some outlets concluded the rebuke phonetically aligns with “piggy,” and mainstream outlets maintained that reading in their reports [3] [2].
6. White House response and the political context
The White House publicly defended the president’s language, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt framing the remark as part of Trump’s “frankness” and defending his interactions with reporters; the administration’s comments also included a claim that the reporter “behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way,” according to reporting [5] [11] [8]. That defense and the “Peggy” counterclaim have been used by partisans to minimize or reframe the incident [5] [3].
7. What available sources do not resolve
Available sources do not provide definitive forensic audio analysis published by an independent, neutral lab that both identifies the speaker and conclusively transcribes the contested word to universal agreement. Several outlets rely on the White House video and newsroom identification of the reporter as Catherine Lucey, while social posts and some commentators point to Peggy Collins despite reporting that Collins was not present [4] [3] [1].
Conclusion — how to read competing claims
The preponderance of mainstream reporting identifies the targeted journalist as Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey and reports the president said “piggy” in that exchange [1] [2] [6]. Alternative claims naming Margaret “Peggy” Collins originated on social platforms and were amplified by an AI tool and partisan commenters despite multiple outlets noting Collins was not on the plane [9] [3] [4]. Readers should weigh the mainstream video-based reporting and journalistic identification of Lucey against the viral social-media assertions that hinge on ambiguous audio and partisan motive to deflect criticism [1] [9] [3].