President Donald Trump couldn’t help himself from snapping at yet another female reporter—and using an insult he typically lobs at Black people.
The 79-year-old president became visibly irate when MS NOW’s White House Correspondent, Akayla Gardner, confronted him on the price of his beloved White House ballroom, which could now cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
“You wanted [Federal Reserve Chair] Jerome Powell fired for cost overruns,” Gardner asked Trump, referring to the Fed’s renovation of its headquarters. “How is that different than your ballroom and the reflecting pool?”
“What happened is that we have a ballroom that’s under budget. It’s going up right here,” he replied Tuesday afternoon just before departing Washington, D.C. for Beijing, China.
“I’ve doubled the size of it because we obviously need that. And we’re right now on budget, under budget and ahead of schedule,” he bragged.
Gardner began to say, “the price has doubled,” when Trump swiftly cut her off, appearing to hunch down to her eye level.
“I doubled the size of it you dumb person! Doubled the size,” he snapped. “You are not a smart person.”
The White House’s Rapid Response X page quickly celebrated the president’s insult, posting the clip and childishly dubbing Gardner “fake news.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson also denied that Trump’s remarks were related to Gardner’s 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," she said in a statement.
A spokesperson for MS NOW declined to comment.
In a separate exchange during the same press gaggle, Trump snarled at another female reporter for asking him to assess his economic policies as inflation shot up to 3.8 percent amid the Iran war.
“It’s working incredibly,” he said at the start of a lengthy rant. “We had a choice: let these lunatics have a nuclear weapon—if you wanna do that, then you’re a stupid person. And you happen to be. I mean, I know you very well.”
The Tuesday episode was the latest in a long series of meltdowns that Trump has had with female reporters over the years.
Last week alone, the president lashed out twice at women journalists: first with 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O’Donnell, whom he called “horrible,” then with ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott, whom he blasted as “one of the worst reporters” for asking about his tacky D.C. renovations.
Trump has so far been unable to go a single month this year without insulting a female reporter.
In April, he called Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov “one of the Least Attractive and Talented People on all of Television.” In March, he called a female ABC News reporter “a very obnoxious person.” In February, he called CNN’s Kaitlan Collins “the worst reporter.” In January, he attacked another female CNN reporter for a “stupid question.”
Trump also has a troubling history of calling Black people unintelligent.
The president has branded several prominent Black figures as “low IQ” individuals, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, and even podcaster Candace Owens, one of his staunchest supporters.
He has treated Black reporters in the same obnoxious manner. Trump once blasted CNN’s Abby Phillip for asking “a lot of stupid questions,” called NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor “very aggressive,” and slammed ABC’s Scott as “nasty.”
But Gardner was right: the cost of Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom has indeed doubled, in the span of just five months.
“This was a perfectly fair and fair question,” the Washington Association of Black Journalists said in a statement. “Trump’s behavior toward the Black women who cover the White House is unhinged.”
Last July, the White House announced that the swanky structure was expected to cost about $200 million. But in December, Trump casually mentioned that the cost of his dream ballroom had skyrocketed to a whopping $400 million.
Trump also assured Americans for months that the project would be funded by private donations from the rich and powerful eager to curry favor with the administration.
After the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month was rocked by another failed assassination attempt on Trump, however, lawmakers were quick to push for taxpayer funding for the ballroom, which is expected to house a secure bunker.
The push for taxpayer funding for the ballroom now includes $1 billion to bankroll “security adjustments and upgrades” tied to the East Wing Modernization Project, including hardening of “above-ground and below-ground security features.”
