President Donald Trump snapped at a reporter on Tuesday after being asked about newly released documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein, sharply denying any connection to the disgraced financier and accusing the journalist of political bias.
Trump made the remarks while hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as reporters were invited into the Oval Office to ask the world leaders questions.
“You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter,” Trump said, before insisting he had “nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein.” Trump reiterated his longstanding claim that he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago “many years ago” because he considered him “a sick pervert.”
Trump then shifted the focus to several Democrats, alleging without evidence that they had closer ties to Epstein.
He also called the “Epstein files” a “Democrat hoax” intended to distract from his accomplishments as president.
Trump attacked the reporter’s network, ABC News, saying its coverage of him was overwhelmingly negative and claiming its broadcast license should be revoked.
“Your news is so fake and so wrong,” he said, later adding, “You ought to go back and learn how to be a reporter.”
He ended the exchange by refusing to take additional questions from the reporter.
"No more questions for you," he said.
It was the second heated moment between Trump and the reporter on Tuesday. Earlier, she had asked bin Salman why Americans should trust him, given U.S. intelligence concluded he ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump interjected, asking which outlet she worked for and saying it was inappropriate for her to raise the question.
"You're mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial," Trump said. "A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you liked him or didn't like him, things happened, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that."
