Trump slights another female reporter, calls her ‘ugly, both inside and out’

President Donald Trump on Wednesday insulted another female reporter, the third in recent weeks, when he called The New York Times’ Katie Rogers “ugly”. In a post on Truth Social, Trump called Rogers, “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out,” a day after Rogers and a male New York Times data reporter co-authored a piece pointing out signs of Trump aging in office.

Trump also disputed the story’s accuracy and wrote in the post, “They know this is wrong.” The US president also called the Times a “cheap ‘rag’” and “an ‘enemy of the people.”

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An NYT spokesperson backed Rogers and her reporting and said, “The Times’ reporting is accurate and built on first-hand reporting of the facts. Name-calling and personal insults don’t change that, nor will our journalists hesitate to cover this administration in the face of intimidation tactics like this.”

“Expert and thorough reporters like Katie Rogers exemplify how an independent and free press helps the American people better understand their government and its leaders,” the spokesperson added.

The Truth Social post came about a week after the president criticised ABC News reporter Mary Bruce in the Oval Office after she asked him a question about the Jeffrey Epstein files during a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“You know, it’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter,” Trump told Bruce, adding that he thinks she’s a “terrible person” and that ABC is a “crappy company.”

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Earlier in the meeting, Bruce had asked Trump and the Saudi crown prince about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which US intelligence in 2021 found was orchestrated by the crown prince and his associates. “He knew nothing about it and we can leave it at that,” Trump responded.

He chided Bruce: “You don’t have to embarrass our guests by asking a question like that.”

Days before that, Trump said, “Quiet, piggy”, when Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey asked a question about Jeffrey Epstein on Air Force One.

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White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said on Wednesday that the president’s comments over the last few weeks are not related to gender.

“President Trump has never been politically correct, never holds back, and in large part, the American people re-elected him for his transparency. This has nothing to do with gender—it has everything to do with the fact that the President’s and the public’s trust in the media is at all time lows.”