President Donald Trump criticized ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce on Tuesday, calling her a “terrible reporter” and suggesting that the network’s broadcast license should be reconsidered. The remarks came after Bruce posed a series of pointed questions during a White House exchange.
Bruce, who serves as ABC’s chief White House correspondent, was among the select reporters allowed into the Oval Office as President Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. During the exchange, she questioned whether it was appropriate for members of the president’s family to engage in business dealings in Saudi Arabia while he held office.
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“Your Royal Highness, the U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you? And the same to you, Mr. President,” she directed a question to the Saudi leader before he could answer.
When Bruce pressed further, Trump asked which outlet she represented, before dismissing ABC as “fake news.” He went on to defend his family’s business ties in Saudi Arabia.
Trump also downplayed U.S. intelligence assessments suggesting that the crown prince may have been involved in the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi national and Virginia resident known for his criticism of the kingdom. The president remarked that “a lot of people didn’t like” Khashoggi.
Responding to questions about the incident, Prince Mohammed acknowledged that Khashoggi’s killing was both painful and “a huge mistake.”
Trump later lashed out at Bruce for posing what he called a “horrible, insubordinate and just a terrible question” to the crown prince. His frustration escalated after her third query, when she pressed the president on why the White House was waiting for Congress to act before releasing further information related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s correspondence. “Why not just do it now?” Bruce asked.
“It’s not the question that I mind,” Trump said. “It’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions.”
After briefly responding to the Epstein question, Trump turned back to Bruce and criticized her line of questioning, saying that “people are wise to your hoax.”
“I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong,” he said. “And we have a great (FCC) commissioner, the chairman, who should look at that because I think when you come in and you’re 97% negative to Trump. And then Trump wins the election in a landslide. That means, obviously, your news is not credible. And you’re not credible as a reporter.”
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ABC News did not respond to Trump’s remarks on Tuesday. The president had referenced FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, whose agency oversees licensing for local broadcast stations.
On the other hand, Bloomberg News responded after Trump called one of its reporters, Catherine Lucey, “piggy” during a question-and-answer session on Air Force One last Friday. Even Reuters shared that video of Trump calling the reporter “quiet piggy” on its Instagram handle.