US President Donald Trump has reignited controversy over his treatment of female journalists after calling a Bloomberg reporter «piggy» and later berating an ABC News correspondent during a high-profile Oval Office event with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The first incident occurred aboard Air Force One last Friday, when Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey asked why Trump would not release documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein «if there’s nothing incriminating in the files.»
Trump pointed at her and replied, «Quiet. Quiet, piggy.»
The exchange surfaced online this week, drawing condemnation from journalists, including CNN’s Jake Tapper, who called the remark «disgusting and completely unacceptable.»
On Tuesday, Trump clashed again, this time with ABC’s Mary Bruce, after she asked whether the Trump family’s business dealings with Saudi Arabia posed a conflict of interest, and pressed Prince Mohammed about US intelligence findings linking him to the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump cut her off, branding ABC «fake news» and telling Bruce she was a «terrible reporter.»
The president also backed the Crown Prince’s denial of involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, despite longstanding US intelligence assessments suggesting otherwise.
Tensions escalated when Bruce later raised the topic of Epstein, as Congress voted overwhelmingly to release files related to the disgraced financier. Trump insisted he had «nothing to do» with Epstein, dismissed the scandal as a «hoax,» and accused ABC of being «one of the perpetrators.»
He then called on the US broadcast regulator to consider revoking ABC’s licence before pointing at Bruce and declaring:
«No more questions from you.»
Kursiv Uzbekistanalso reports that Hana Tetteh, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Libya, has welcomed Qatar’s decision to fund a joint project with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) aimed at supporting political dialogue and civic engagement in the country.
