Donald Trump has been deemed a "bully" and "disrespectful" following this tense exchange with two female reporters.
Donald Trump has been deemed a "bully" and "disrespectful" following this tense exchange with two female reporters.
You'd think press conferences are a place for journalists to grill authority figures and hold them to account.
But judging by this tense exchange between Donald Trump and two female reporters, that isn't always the case.
On the back of a new trilateral trade deal with Canada and Mexico, the US president went off the rails, lashing out at members of the press for asking him about other issues.
Donald Trump has been deemed a "bully" and "disrespectful" following this tense exchange with two female reporters.
As ABC reporter Cecilia Vega stood up to ask her question, the President took a moment to mock her before she started speaking: "She's shocked that I picked on her. She's, like, in a state of shock," he said, to laughs from the crowd.
Vega asked him about reports that the White House is limiting the scope of the investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
"In a tweet this weekend, Mr President, you said that it's incorrect to say you were limiting the scope of the FBI investigation —'
Mr Trump immediately cut her off: "What does that have to do with trade? I don't mind answering the question, but, you know, I'd like to do the trade questions."
"It has to do with the other headline in the news, which is the Kavanaugh investigation," she responded.
He then responded to a question on trade, and she tried once again to bring up the Kavanaugh issue.
"Let's do that later," he said, before moving on to another reporter.
After the conference, Vega posted the following tweet:
A news conference means you get to ask whatever question you want to ask. #FirstAmendment
I honestly was hoping that I misheard this exchange. But the president actually said that to Cecilia's face, in front of everyone......"I know you're not thinking, you never do."
This isn't the first tense exchange between Vega and the President.
In July this year, Vega asked Mr Trump if Russia was still targeting the US.
"Thank you very much, no," he responded. It was unsure whether he was dismissing her question or directly answering the question, so she followed up: "Can you just clarify, you don't believe that to be the case?"
He ignored her and moved on to another reporter's question.
Vega later addressed the exchange on Twitter, saying she believed the President had clearly heard her questions.
Getting a lot of questions about my exchange with @realDonaldTrump today. Yes, he was looking directly at me when he spoke. Yes, I believe he heard me clearly. He answered two of my questions. Here’s the full exchange: pic.twitter.com/F3QmDSFzpT
When she continued to ask her question about Mr Kavanaugh, he dismissed her and said, "Excuse me, don't do that, don't do that, be nice" before turning to another reporter and ignoring her.
TRUMP ADDRESSES ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
The Kavanaugh probe was the elephant in the room during today's press conference, and soon even Mr Trump couldn't ignore it.
The Supreme Court nominee continues to deny a university professor's accusation that he sexually assaulted her 36 years ago after she told a dramatic senate hearing she was "100 per cent certain" he did.
Dr Christine Blasey Ford told a Senate committee hearing she feared he would rape and accidentally kill her during the alleged assault when both were high school students in Maryland.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Photo / AP
Both Dr Ford and Kavanaugh fought back tears as they gave evidence over claims he sexually assaulted the then-15-year-old in the 1980s.
During today's press conference, after his tense exchanges with the two female reporters, Mr Trump finally addressed the issue.
"OK, you people want to get off trade. You people are falling asleep with trade," he said. "All right, let's go, come on."
In response to a question from a male reporter about Kavanaugh, the President said: "I watched a man saying that he did have difficulty as a young man with drink. I mean, he talked about things that happened when he drinks — this is not a man that said… that he was perfect with respect to alcohol."
Mr Trump also said it was "very unfair" to discuss Mr Kavanaugh's teenage habits, saying there have been "no bad reports" about him for a quarter century.
"What his wife is going through, what his beautiful children are going through is not describable, it's not describable. It's not fair," he added. "I think it's fair to do it to me because I have been going from day one, long before I got to office. For me, it's part of my job description to handle this crap."
After several questions on the issue, Collins tried again. "Mr. President, just to wrap up, do you promise to release the FBI report...'
At this point, she was cut off by an angry Mr Trump. "You know what? You've had enough. You've had enough," he yelled before turning to another reporter.
At another point in the press conference, the President broadly attacked the media, saying: "I think the press has treated me unbelievably unfairly. They got worse. They're worse now than ever. They're loco, but that's OK."
'DIRT ON A DEMOCRATIC SENATOR'
In a separate bombshell, Mr Trump claimed to be aware of dirt on a Democratic senator in a "somewhat compromising" situation.
"I happen to know some United States senators. One who is on the other side who is pretty aggressive. I've seen that person in very bad situations, OK? I''ve seen that person in very, very bad situations," Mr Trump said, in response to a question about whether Kavanaugh should be interviewed by the FBI. "Somewhat compromising. And you know, I think it's very unfair to bring up things like this."
He did not name the senator or provide any evidence. When pressed for more information, he said he would save it for his memoir.
"I think I'll save it for a book like everybody else," he said. "I'm not giving it to you."
