Donald Trump has launched a personal attack on New York Times journalist Katie Rogers, branding her “ugly inside and out” in a post on his Truth Social platform. The insult came after the newspaper published an article questioning whether the US president, now in his 80th year, was showing signs of fatigue.
In the article, the Times reported that Trump appeared drowsy during a 6 November Oval Office event, with his “eyelids drooped until his eyes were almost closed, and he appeared to doze on and off for several seconds”. Trump responded by insisting he had “never worked so hard in my life” and accused Rogers of being a “third rate reporter” assigned to write only negative stories about him.
The attack follows a pattern of derogatory remarks towards female journalists. Less than two weeks earlier, Trump referred to Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey as a “piggy” during a confrontation on Air Force One. He also criticised ABC News’s Mary Bruce, calling her a “terrible person and a terrible reporter” after she questioned him about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the Epstein scandal.
The New York Times defended its reporter. Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson, said: “The Times’s reporting is accurate and built on first hand reporting of the facts. Name-calling and personal insults don’t change that, nor will our journalists hesitate to cover this administration in the face of intimidation tactics like this.”
Trump, the oldest person ever elected US president, has a history of aggressive responses to media scrutiny, particularly targeting women. His latest outburst renews questions about his temperament and treatment of the press.
