At a gathering with the Crown Prince: First Trump is outraged by an “outrageous question” – then he makes a menace | EUROtoday

US President Donald Trump hardly ever makes a secret of what he thinks of journalists who ask disagreeable questions. On Tuesday, the Republican’s anger hit a reporter from the US broadcaster ABC News.

Mary Bruce, the community’s chief White House correspondent, was among the many reporters who attended Trump’s reception of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman within the Oval Office. Bruce took the chance to confront Trump about attainable conflicts of curiosity: She requested him whether or not it was acceptable for his household to do enterprise in Saudi Arabia throughout his presidency.

Before Trump may reply, nevertheless, she directed one other query to the Saudi crown prince. “Your Royal Highness, U.S. intelligence has concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. The families of the 9/11 victims are angry that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you? And the same goes for you, Mr. President.” What he was referring to was the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi royal household who wrote for the “Washington Post” in exile, amongst others. In October 2018, Khashoggi was in Istanbul for an appointment on the Saudi consulate, the place he needed to select up paperwork for his marriage. He by no means confirmed up once more.

According to US intelligence company CIA, bin Salman permitted the killing and subsequent dismemberment of the reporter. After initially denying the crime for a very long time, the management in Riyadh then admitted that the journalist had been killed whereas trying to return him to his homeland. Bin Salman’s involvement remains to be denied.

“Many people didn’t like Khashoggi”

The case had lengthy brought about diplomatic tensions between Riyadh and Washington and different Western allies. During the Saudi crown prince’s first go to for the reason that journalist’s homicide, Trump not confirmed any main issues. Instead, his anger was directed on the ABC journalist. After Trump requested her who she labored for, he first referred to as her employer, ABC, “fake news,” after which defended his household’s enterprise in Saudi Arabia.

In response to the journalist’s query, Mohammed bin Salman mentioned Khashoggi’s dying was painful and “a big mistake.” Trump, in flip, criticized Bruce for asking the prince a “terrible, outrageous and just plain terrible question” – and jumped to Bin Salman’s aspect. Trump mentioned he knew nothing about Khashoggi’s homicide. “Things happened, but he didn’t know anything about it, and we can leave it at that,” mentioned Trump, contradicting the findings of his personal secret providers concerning the crown prince’s shared duty for Khashoggi’s homicide. “A lot of people didn’t like Khashoggi,” Trump mentioned succinctly. The journalist was “extremely controversial”.

But Trump additionally did not just like the reporter’s third query. Bruce needed to know why the White House was ready for congressional motion to launch extra particulars concerning the correspondence of convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Why don’t you just do that now?” Bruce requested. “It’s not the question that bothers me,” Trump replied. “It’s your attitude. I think you’re a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions.”

Threat of license revocation

Eventually, Trump grew to become principled, accusing Bruce that “people will see through their deception.” “I think ABC should have its license revoked because your news is so false and inaccurate,” Trump mentioned. “And we have a great (FCC) commissioner, the chairman, who should take care of this, because if you come in and you’re 97 percent negative about Trump … and then Trump wins the election in a landslide, that of course means your news isn’t credible. And you’re not credible as a reporter.” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr heads the federal company liable for licensing native broadcast stations.

It will not be the primary time that Trump has threatened US broadcasters with corresponding measures. In September, following criticism from comic Jimmy Kimmel on his ABC late-night present, the president urged that tv stations that reported too critically about him would face a assessment of their licenses.

ABC News didn’t touch upon Trump’s statements Tuesday. The US President can be going through criticism in one other case. In entrance of journalists on Friday on the presidential aircraft “Air Force One,” he criticized a reporter who had requested questions concerning the Epstein information.

Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg’s White House correspondent, requested Trump – earlier than the vote within the US House of Representatives – why Trump was behaving this manner “if there is nothing incriminating in the files.” Trump then pointed at her and mentioned: “Shut up. Shut up, you piggy.” Several journalists confirmed the incident. “Disgusting and completely unacceptable,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper wrote on X, sharing a clip of the incident. Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson referred to as the assertion “disgusting and demeaning.”

“Our journalists in the White House perform an important public service by asking questions without fear or favor,” Bloomberg News mentioned Tuesday. “We remain focused on reporting fairly and accurately on issues of public interest.”

The US authorities has already restricted journalists’ entry in some circumstances. Most just lately, entry for reporters to the places of work of press secretary Karoline Leavitt and different senior workers was restricted. The cause given was the safety of delicate data. At the start of October, the US Department of Defense additionally launched restrictions. The Pentagon is requiring information organizations to signal a brand new coverage or threat dropping accreditation and jobs on the division. The US authorities has additionally eliminated the information businesses Reuters, Associated Press and Bloomberg News from the everlasting “reporter pool” accompanying the president.