President Donald Trump snapped at ABC News White House correspondent Rachel Scott on Monday as she asked about his commitment to releasing the second video of a strike on a suspected narco-terrorist ship.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has been under pressure by lawmakers to release unedited footage of the Sept. 2 strike of a ship that killed 11 people in the Caribbean Sea. Trump did not hold back during a White House meeting about U.S. farming as Scott asked him about releasing the footage.
“So are you committed to releasing the full video?” Scott asked.
“Didn’t I just tell you that? You’re the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place,” Trump said in the White House Cabinet Room. “Let me just tell you, you are an obnoxious, a terrible, actually a terrible reporter. And it’s always the same thing with you. I told you, whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me.”
WATCH:
Officials confirmed there were four military strikes against the boat, with the first strike killing nine of the 11 people on board. A second strike killed the two remaining survivors 40 minutes later.
Members of Congress are seeking to pass legislation to require the Department of Defense (DOD) to release the whole footage to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, according to ABC News. If the DOD does not comply, the agency will lose 25% of its travel budget.
Trump said he is open to releasing the video, though he is allowing Hegseth to make the final decision. Hegseth said that he is concerned about exposing sources and methods tied to the operation.
The president sparred with ABC’s Mary Bruce during a Nov. 18 meeting in the Oval Office where he floated the idea of revoking ABC’s license. Trump also called on ABC’s license to be revoked for refusing to correct former Vice President Kamala Harris’ several false claims about the 2017 Charlottesville riot, The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and Trump’s support for in vitro fertilization (IVF).
ABC News agreed to pay Trump $15 million in December 2024 after host George Stephanopoulos falsely stated that the current president had been found “liable of rape.”
Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said on “The Benny Johnson Show” in September that ABC could face potential consequences if it had failed to discipline late night host Jimmy Kimmel over his false statements about the alleged assassin of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
