What exact derogatory remarks did Trump use against women reporters and in which contexts?
Executive summary
Donald Trump has repeatedly used demeaning language about female journalists — calling them things like “piggy,” “stupid,” “ugly,” “terrible,” “obnoxious” and “incapable” — across settings that include White House press availabilities, Air Force One gaggles, Mar‑a‑Lago encounters, extended interviews and posts on his social platform, often in response to pointed questions about his conduct or reporting about his health and taxes [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. The “quiet, piggy” episode and Epstein questions — public gaggle, Bloomberg reporter
During a press gaggle when a Bloomberg reporter pressed him about the Jeffrey Epstein files, Trump told the reporter to be “quiet” and called her “piggy,” a remark widely reported as coming at the moment a female journalist asked about a sensitive subject and was framed as an attempt to shut down the question in front of other officials and cameras [2] [3].
2. “Third‑rate” and “ugly, both inside and out” — attack on Katie Rogers over reporting on his health
After The New York Times published reporting on his schedule and signs of fatigue, Trump accused veteran Times reporter Katie Rogers of being “assigned to only write bad things” about him and called her “a third‑rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out,” comments that were made in response to coverage questioning his age and stamina [4] [5] [6].
3. “You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter” — White House rebuke during a visit with foreign dignitaries
When an ABC News correspondent asked about his relationship with Epstein during a White House meeting that included Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump told the reporter “You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter,” went further to say she should “go back and learn how to be a reporter,” and threatened the network’s standing — remarks reported as part of a public reprimand during the diplomatic visit [7] [8].
4. “Are you a stupid person?”, “nasty”, “incapable”, “obnoxious” — a pattern across settings
In recent months the president has directed short, personal putdowns such as “Are you a stupid person?” and adjectival attacks — “nasty,” “incapable,” “obnoxious,” and labeling someone “the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place” — at women who asked him tough questions about his MRI, legal troubles and other topics during press availabilities, on Air Force One, and in the Oval Office, a cluster of incidents many outlets catalogued as an escalation of personalized attacks [9] [1] [10] [6].
5. Platform and tone: from on‑the‑record pressers to Truth Social and interviews
These insults have appeared in immediate on‑the‑record encounters — press briefings, gaggle exchanges and Oval Office interviews — and in amplified form on his social platform and public statements, showing a mix of in‑person interruptions (e.g., telling a reporter to be quiet) and broader denunciations of outlets such as calling networks “fake news” and individual reporters “very loud” or otherwise dismissive, as in the attack on an ABC correspondent described as “very loud” and from a “fake news” outlet [11] [5].
6. How outlets and advocates framed the incidents and caveats in the reporting
News organizations and press groups noted the incidents as part of an unmistakable pattern of hostility — often directed at women — that undermines press freedom, and the Society of Professional Journalists and other observers publicly criticized the tone; at the same time the White House press office reportedly pushed back against the idea the comments were gendered, a point raised by the administration while many news outlets documented a concentration of targets who were female [2] [11]. Reporting here catalogs multiple cited examples but is not a comprehensive list of every remark across all dates; these are the specific phrases and contexts documented by the cited outlets [1] [3] [4] [2] [8] [5].