Trump abruptly leaves interview, calls reporter ‘darling’: 5 times US president berated female journalists

United States President Donald Trump walked out of a nationally televised interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” and called the interviewer “stupid or crooked”. After being pressed about his unfounded claims of rigged elections, he called the network “crooked” before throwing his microphone to the ground and crushed it under his foot.

”Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time”, said Trump to journalist Kristen Welker. If you think there’s a sexist undertone to his comments, there probably is, given his documented history of sharp attacks at female reporters. This isn’t the first time Trump has walked out of an interview or blasted the press.

Although the president’s interactions with the media have not been pleasant, critics have noted a pattern where he saves his most personal remarks for the female reporters. His infamous run-ins with female journalists often include gendered derogatory language and name-calling. He has previously been accused of singling women out during press briefings. Trump has addressed them as “dumb” and also asked them to “be quiet” in the past. Last month, he told a female reporter, “you are not a smart person," while calling another “a stupid person."

In 2025, Trump referred to a news correspondent as a “piggy” when asked about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. “Quiet. Quiet, piggy”, he said while wagging his finger at her aboard Air Force One. The incident drew attention and criticism, accusing the president of “berating” women. He is also not unfamiliar with the word "piggy", as Miss Universe 1996 claimed that she was called “Miss Piggy” by Donald Trump. Furthermore, he was the then-owner of the pageant and also asked the crowned beauty queen to lose weight.

One of his first viral spars with a female journalist was as early as 2015, when he was running for the presidency. Journalist Megan Kelly opened the Republican Party's presidential debate by reading out instances of Trump demeaning women, calling them “fat pigs”, “slobs”, and “dogs”. In the following days, Trump went on to attack Kelly on multiple counts, even publicly mentioning menstruation at one point. “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,” he told CNN.

Trump has been known to direct specific ire towards CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. On Wednesday (June 3), he gestured towards her and said she “never smiles”. “A young beautiful woman, never smiles. I never see a smile off her face”, he added. Notably, in 2017, Trump interrupted a phone call to Ireland's Prime Minister to beckon an Irish reporter forward and say, “She has a nice smile on her face so I bet she treats you well”. Trump’s comments on female reporters' “smiles” have invited backlash from critics, highlighting the misogyny behind policing women’s facial expressions.

Trump has walked out of multiple interviews in the past, but a notable one was a CBS 60 Minutes interview in 2020 with Lesley Stahl. He abruptly ended the interview after a tense exchange, complaining about the “tough” questioning. He accused her of not asking then former Vice President Joe Biden “tough questions,” though she had not interviewed him at that point. He even threatened to release the unedited footage of the interview prior to its airtime to prove alleged bias.