Donald Trump has launched a personal attack against New York Times reporter Katie Rogers, describing her as “ugly, both inside and out” in a Truth Social post. The outburst followed an article co-authored by Rogers that suggested the president was showing signs of fatigue as he approaches his 80th year.
In his post, Trump denied slowing down, claiming he had “never worked so hard in my life”. The article, published on Tuesday, cited an Oval Office event on 6 November where Trump’s “eyelids drooped until his eyes were almost closed, and he appeared to doze on and off for several seconds”. Rumours about the president’s health have persisted for months, intensified after he admitted to having an MRI last month.
Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson for the New York Times, defended the newspaper’s reporting. “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,” he said. He praised Rogers as “an expert and thorough reporter”.
The incident is the latest in a series of derogatory remarks Trump has made towards female journalists. Less than two weeks ago, he referred to Bloomberg News correspondent Catherine Lucey as a “piggy” during an exchange on Air Force One. Last week, he told ABC News’s Mary Bruce that she was a “terrible person and a terrible reporter” after she questioned him about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the Epstein scandal.
Trump has a long history of targeting women in the media, having previously called female journalists “nasty” and made references to menstruation during exchanges with Fox News’s Megyn Kelly.
