Trump repeatedly told CNN correspondent Kristen Holmes to “be quiet” during a hostile Oval Office exchange, before an official White House social media account brought her children into the row.
Holmes, CNN’s senior White House correspondent, asked Trump to respond to remarks from Democratic senator Jon Ossoff about the president and his executive assistant, Natalie Harp. Trump dismissed Ossoff as a “Pee-wee Herman lookalike.” Later, when Holmes questioned him about North Korea and US military exercises, he turned on her directly: “Quiet, quiet, quiet. You’re very disrespectful.”
He asked which organisation she represented, then called CNN “fake news” once she answered. “You’re a loud, boisterous person. Be quiet. Be quiet. You’re a fake reporter and you report fake news.”
This happened during an Oval Office event honouring teenage lifeguard Ryder Williams, who’d helped rescue a child from dangerous surf in California. Trump opened the event to wider questions from journalists, as he often does at these appearances.
What Holmes actually asked
Her first question concerned comments Ossoff made in a speech on Sunday. The Georgia senator accused Trump of not wanting to do the actual work of the presidency, saying he’d rather build his White House ballroom and “travel with Natalie” aboard the luxury aircraft Qatar provided for presidential use.
“Natalie” was understood to mean Harp, a former TV presenter now serving as Trump’s executive assistant, frequently seen carrying documents for him and increasingly prominent in his immediate circle. Her access to Trump has drawn attention before, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s book on Trump described him summoning Harp during an Oval Office interview to retrieve papers praising him as one of history’s most powerful figures.
Asked to answer Ossoff’s allegation, Trump insulted the senator and never actually addressed the Harp reference. The White House was entitled to reject Ossoff’s claim, or object to how Holmes phrased the question. Its official Rapid Response account went after the journalist personally instead.
An official account brought her children into it
@RapidResponse47 posted a clip of the exchange, accusing Holmes of using an event honouring a young lifeguard to take a “cheap shot” at a member of Trump’s staff, calling her a “disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment” and describing journalists covering it as “the lowest of the low.”
A second post addressed Holmes directly and brought her family in: “Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question,” adding that they’d be embarrassed by her. This came from an official White House communications account, not Trump’s personal profile or a campaign account. The administration never explained what was supposedly “inhumane” about asking the president to respond to a public allegation made by a sitting US senator.
CNN stands behind Holmes
CNN responded through @CNNPR, saying it rejected the attacks “in the strongest possible terms.” It called Holmes one of the most respected journalists covering the White House and said she’d been doing her job asking a relevant question. Public officials are entitled to dispute reporting, CNN said, but personal attacks on journalists are beneath the presidency and incompatible with a free press. “We stand firmly behind @KristenhCNN.”
Holmes has covered Trump and the White House for years. Her question touched a public speech from a sitting senator, a presidential aide, and an aircraft given to the US government by Qatar, all legitimate subjects. Neither Trump’s insults nor the Rapid Response posts actually addressed Ossoff’s allegation.
Not an isolated incident
This follows a pattern of confrontations between Trump and women questioning him for major news organisations. In November, he told Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey “quiet, piggy” when she tried asking about the Jeffrey Epstein files aboard Air Force One. He’s insulted New York Times reporter Katie Rogers and attacked CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, reportedly telling her to “just smile” at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner before posting an edited image mocking her appearance.
He recently walked out of an NBC interview with Kristen Welker after calling her “crooked or stupid,” and attacked CBS’s Norah O’Donnell live on 60 Minutes, calling her “disgraceful” when she pushed back on air.
Trump’s habit of labelling unwelcome questions “fake news” is nothing new. What’s different here is the escalation coming from the White House itself, an official account choosing to bring a reporter’s children into it after she simply asked the president about a senator’s public remarks. CNN’s response makes clear Holmes has the network’s full backing. The original question, about Ossoff, Harp and the Qatari aircraft, still hasn’t been answered.
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