When and where did Donald Trump make derogatory comments about nurses or medical staff, if at all?
Executive summary
Donald Trump has not been widely reported in the provided sources to have used a direct, widely publicized slur specifically calling “nurses” or “medical staff” derogatory names; instead, the reporting in late 2025 centers on two related developments: Trump administration policy changes that exclude nursing from a federal “professional degree” designation, which nursing organizations called “an insult to nurses” [1] [2] [3]; and separate episodes in which Trump insulted female reporters and made dismissive remarks about medical matters (MRI/cognitive-test exchanges) during a November–December 2025 press surge [4] [5] [6]. Available sources do not mention a specific incident in which Trump verbally attacked nurses or other medical staff by name with derogatory epithets.
1. Policy move that nurses called “an insult” — not a personal insult
The most concrete set of complaints from the nursing community documented in the sources concerns a Department of Education/Trump administration change that removed nursing from a list of programs treated as “professional degrees” for federal loan limits; unions and associations said that omission was “an insult to nurses” and would harm graduate-school access and the pipeline into advanced nursing roles [1] [2] [3]. Coverage in Newsweek, the AP and the Los Angeles Times records nursing groups’ reactions and frames the controversy as policy-driven harm rather than an instance of the president using personal, derogatory language directed at individual nurses [1] [3] [7].
2. Where and when Trump insulted journalists — related press episodes
Several outlets reported that in late November/early December 2025 Trump traded barbed insults with female reporters aboard Air Force One and in other press encounters while being pressed about MRI results from Walter Reed; those exchanges included lines about having “aced” a cognitive test and taunts of reporters’ intelligence or behavior [4] [5] [8]. Major outlets (CNN, People, Newsweek) covered the Air Force One exchanges on or around Dec. 1, 2025, tying them to broader criticism of his temperament during press interactions [4] [5] [8].
3. Accusation that hospital staff stole PPE — earlier pandemic-era episode
One earlier critic piece (not contemporaneous with the 2025 coverage) accused Trump of publicly suggesting, without evidence, that hospital staff in New York were stealing personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic — a claim that health-care workers and advocates called “insulting” because it impugned frontline workers’ motives and safety [9]. That reporting dates to 2020 coverage reprinted or discussed by Common Dreams and is not the same as the 2025 nursing-degree controversy, but it does show precedent for public comments viewed as disparaging to health-care personnel [9].
4. What sources explicitly say — and what they don’t
Multiple sources explicitly record nursing organizations using the phrase “insult to nurses” about the professional-degree policy change and document the policy’s likely effects on student loans and graduate training [2] [1] [3]. The sources document Trump’s November/December 2025 pressroom insults aimed at reporters and his remarks about his MRI and cognitive test [4] [5]. The available reporting in the provided corpus does not include a named, on-the-record instance where Trump directly used a derogatory epithet toward “nurses” or general “medical staff” in 2025; for a claim of that kind, the sources say “not found in current reporting” or do not mention it (not found in current reporting).
5. Competing perspectives and likely agendas
Nursing unions and professional groups frame the administration’s omission as an attack on the profession and warn of practical harms to education and staffing, a position reported by mainstream outlets [2] [3]. The administration and Department of Education defended the change as a technical, internal classification tied to loan limits and not a value judgment — a defense noted in local reporting and the administration’s statements [10]. Journalistic coverage of Trump’s press insults emphasizes his combative style and political messaging; supporters portrayed such remarks as typical bluntness and transparency [8]. Readers should note the actors: nursing unions have advocacy agendas tied to funding and staffing; the White House has political incentives to minimize perceived disrespect; media stories highlight different aspects depending on outlet focus [1] [2] [4].
6. Bottom line for your question
If your question asks “When and where did Trump make derogatory comments about nurses or medical staff?” the sources supplied show widespread complaints from nurses about an administration policy change described as “an insult to nurses” (late November 2025 reporting on the professional-degree reclassification) and separate episodes where Trump insulted reporters and made dismissive comments about medical testing (Air Force One and press settings around Nov. 30–Dec. 1, 2025) [1] [2] [4]. The provided sources do not document a discrete, on-the-record event in which Trump personally used a derogatory slur directly naming “nurses” or “medical staff” beyond policy critics’ characterizations (not found in current reporting).