President Donald Trump publicly admonished a female journalist in the Oval Office on Friday, describing her questioning as “very aggressive.” The incident occurred during a press scrum where the reporter, widely believed to be NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor, posed a question about the president’s reaction to newly released photos involving Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump instructed the journalist to be “nice and easy,” before reiterating his assessment of her approach. This latest exchange marks a continuation of a pattern where the president has directed sharp criticism towards female reporters in recent weeks, drawing renewed scrutiny to his interactions with the press.

The journalist had asked Trump about a batch of photos that emerged on Friday, which reportedly showed the president with a group of women whose faces were blurred. The Independent has reached out to Alcindor for comment on the encounter.

This is not the first time Trump has engaged in a contentious exchange with Alcindor. In September, he labeled her a purveyor of “fake news” and “second-rate” when she questioned him about an AI-generated image suggesting a potential “war” on Chicago as part of immigration policy. Earlier, during a 2020 Covid-19 briefing, he similarly told her to “be nice” and not be “threatening.”

President Trump has employed harsh language against several female reporters recently, using terms such as “stupid,” “incapable,” and “ugly.” In one instance last month, he reportedly told Bloomberg White House correspondent Catherine Lucey to “be quiet piggy.”

In response to past criticisms of his remarks, the White House has issued statements defending the president’s communication style. A White House spokeswoman stated that Trump is “never politically correct” and that his directness is a quality for which the American people re-elected him. The statement also asserted that these interactions are not gender-related but reflect low public trust in the media.

White House officials have also highlighted instances where Trump has been critical of male reporters, citing comments where he called a Reuters reporter “third-rate” and a Wall Street Journal reporter associated with a “rotten” outlet. However, critics argue that the president displays particular animosity towards female journalists, especially women of color.

During his presidency, Trump frequently targeted African-American female journalists. He described questions from CNN’s Abby Phillip as “stupid” and those from Alcindor as “racist.” More recently, during his 2024 campaign, he had a notable confrontation with reporters at a National Association of Black Journalists conference.

Trump became agitated when asked about Black voters’ trust in him, following an inflammatory remark about Vice President Kamala Harris. He told ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott that he had “never been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” adding, “You don’t even say hello, how are you.”

The president consistently attacks the press as a whole, frequently labeling journalists as disseminators of “fake news” and labeling the media as “the enemy of the people.”

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Keywords: Donald Trump, Oval Office, female reporter, press scrum, aggressive questioning, Yamiche Alcindor, White House press, media criticism, Trump press interactions, journalist treatment