“Ugly,” “stupid,” “piggy” – Trump intensifies hostility towards female reporters 

The “Hall of Shame” represents the latest escalation in Donald Trump’s long-standing attacks on the US media. It follows lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, as well as out-of-court settlements with media groups Disney and Paramount. The US president is known for reacting aggressively and insultingly when journalists — especially women — ask critical questions or do not report according to his views.

He has sharply attacked several female journalists in recent weeks: in mid-November, he shouted at Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey, saying, “Quiet! Quiet, piggy!” Lucey had asked Trump about recently released documents related to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt considers this tone appropriate and defended Trump’s statement during a press conference, saying that the president “calls out fake news when he sees it and gets frustrated with reporters who spread false information.”  

On November 26, Trump insulted a New York Times correspondent as a “third-rate reporter who is ugly inside and out.” The next day, he asked CBS journalist Nancy Cordes if she was “a stupid person.” She had asked questions about the government’s vetting of Afghans who were allowed to enter the US and granted asylum after the fall of Kabul in 2021.

 

Trump uses authoritarian means to weaken the press

Insulting and slandering journalists are only part of Trump’s attacks on the press. His administration is deliberately using instruments of state power to harm unwelcome media outlets — a strategy familiar to authoritarian regimes. For example, the US Congress cut billions in government funding to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) at his urging. 

Trump also radically cut funding for the foreign broadcasters Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Hundreds of employees were laid off or forced to take unpaid leave, and key independent sources of information in closed-off authoritarian states have dried up.  RSF has filed a lawsuit against this decision together with VOA employees – a final ruling is still pending.