Donald Trump has furiously called a female reporter a “stupid person” after being asked about the suspect in the D.C. shootings.
Trump, 79, took part in a media conference after his Thanksgiving call with service members on Thursday in which he confirmed the death of Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom.
Speaking from Mar-a-Lago, Trump was infuriated when asked about the suspected shooter, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan man living in Washington since 2021.
CNN reported that he had “applied for asylum in 2024, and it was granted by the Trump administration in April 2025.”
Speaking to Trump, the female reporter discussed revelations that the suspect had worked very closely with the CIA in Afghanistan for years and had been vetted.
“He went cuckoo, he went nuts, and that happens too,” Trump said, before claiming “there was no vetting or anything. They came in unvetted, and we have a lot of others in this country we’re gonna get them out, but they go cuckoo.”
The reporter pressed the 79-year-old, saying Trump’s Department of Justice had this year reported there had been “thorough vetting” by the DHS and FBI of Afghans who had entered the U.S, appearing to reference a June report from the Inspector General’s Office, titled, ‘Audit of the FBI’s Participation in the Handling of Afghan Evacuees During Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome.’
“So why do you blame the Biden administration?,” she asked
“Because they let them in,” Trump snapped. “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? Because they came in on a plane, along with thousands of other people that shouldn’t be here, and you’re just asking questions, because you’re a stupid person.”
Trump called the reporter “stupid” three times. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the comment.
“President Trump has never been politically correct, never holds back, and in large part, the American people re-elected him for his transparency,” she said in a statement to the Daily Beast.
“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.”
The White House’s official RapidResponse 47 X account proudly posted the embarrassing exchange.
Their caption read, “FAKE NEWS: ‘Why do you blame the Biden Administration?’ @POTUS: ‘Because they let him! Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? Because they came in on a plane — along with thousands of other people that SHOULDN’T BE HERE."
At the end of the conference, NewsNation reporter Libbey Dean pressed Trump on whether the D.C. shooting suspect was actually granted asylum under his administration.
“When it comes to asylum, when they’re flown in it’s very hard to get them out, no matter how you want to do it’s very hard to get them out, but we’re going to be getting them all out,” Trump said.
The president also raised a bizarre possible motive for the suspect during the press conference.
“This is a terrorism threat,” Trump said.
“This was done because the National Guard has been so effective [in Washington]. You went from having a tremendous amount of crime, death, killing... everything else... to having none, and this happened I assume... maybe this man was upset because he couldn’t he couldn’t practice crime? Who knows what his motivation was, but what he did was horrible.”
The “stupid” insult follows Trump calling a female reporter “piggy” earlier this month.
The president lashed out at Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucy who asked him about the Epstein files, responding with “quiet, quiet, piggy” while pointing his finger at her.
At the time, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the insult by stating, “The president is very frank and honest with everyone in the room.”
Earlier this week, Trump criticized another female reporter, this time referencing her appearance.
He posted on Truth Social that The New York Times’ White House correspondent Katie Rogers is “ugly, both inside and out.”
Trump was angered by a story she had written stating he is showing signs of aging and fatigue and as a result has significantly reduced his workload in his second term.
