President Donald Trump insulted two female reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night while facing renewed questions about the MRI he received last month.
The exchange unfolded as the president returned to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he spent Thanksgiving, and came amid growing scrutiny from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who in recent days urged Trump to release the test results.
The controversy stems from a Thanksgiving Day Truth Social post in which Trump referred to Walz as “seriously retarded” — a slur that drew swift condemnation and prompted the governor to press for more transparency about the president’s health.
“Here we got a guy on Thanksgiving where we spent time with our families, we ate, we played Yahtzee, we cheered for football or whatever,” Walz told NBC News over the weekend. “This guy is apparently in a room ranting about everything else. This is not normal behavior. It’s not healthy.”
Pressed aboard Air Force One on Sunday about Walz’s criticism, Trump insisted the test was flawless. A male reporter asked, “Gov. Walz called for the release of your MRI results,” prompting Trump to respond: “They were perfect, like my phone call where I got impeached. Absolutely perfect. If you want to have it released, I’ll release it.”
The exchange turned tense when two female reporters followed up. Trump first clashed with NewsNation’s Libby Dean, saying, “Do you want to have it released, NewsNation? Failing, failing NewsNation.”
“It’s certainly not failing,” Dean snapped back.
“NewsNation is doing lousy, by the way,” Trump replied.
“Can you tell us what they were looking at?” the other female interjected.
Trump stalled, asking, “For what? Releasing?” The reporter clarified: “No, what part of the body was the MRI looking at?”
“I have no idea. It was just an MRI,” Trump replied. “It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and aced it. I got a perfect mark, which you would be incapable of doing.”
“Goodbye, everybody!” he added. “And you too,” Trump said while pointing at Dean.
Trump’s dismissiveness won applause in MAGA circles, with conservative commentator Nick Sortor leading the charge on X, saying, “LMFAO! President Trump just proved once again he’s the king of trolls.”
Supporters flooded the comments with praise, framing the moment as a show of strength. One person called it a “humorous moment that grabbed attention,” adding, “He showcased confidence, poked at critics, and controlled the narrative, leaving reporters with no comeback. The exchange shows how he blends humor with confrontation to dominate the spotlight.”
Missing from the celebration was any concern about Trump’s unwillingness — or inability — to explain basic details about his health, and his comments added fuel to concerns that the White House has been vague about the reason for the MRI, which Trump announced in early November.
At the time, Trump claimed, “The doctor said it was the best result he has ever seen as a doctor.”
Some viewers applauded the NewsNation reporter, Dean, for pushing back, even if it was “small.”
“You know you are doing a good job when he gets flustered and can’t answer a question, keep it up, keep him rattled,” one thread’s user wrote.
The White House has repeatedly declined to specify what prompted the imaging. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said only that Trump received “advanced imaging” at Walter Reed as part of his routine physical examination and that the findings showed he remains in “exceptional physical health.”
On Monday, officials released a letter from his physician outlining the results of “advanced imaging tests,” in which Dr. Sean P. Barbabella asserted that scans of Trump’s cardiovascular system and abdominal region show he “remains in excellent overall health.”
But just as Trump has offered selective details in moments of heightened scrutiny, Barbabella’s statement avoided specifying whether the president underwent an MRI, the type of scan typically used to capture soft-tissue issues that wouldn’t appear on X-rays. Instead, the doctor cited only “advanced imaging,” saying the tests were ordered “because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health.”
According to the memo, the imaging was conducted as part of Trump’s “comprehensive executive physical,” a high-level medical assessment often reserved for senior leaders and corporate executives, one that can include tests far beyond what is standard for patients with no obvious symptoms.
View on Threads
Barbabella emphasized that Trump’s cardiovascular imaging appeared “perfectly normal,” showing no arterial narrowing, and claimed the president’s “cardiovascular system shows excellent health.” The letter also said his abdominal imaging was “perfectly normal,” adding that such a detailed battery of tests is “standard for an executive physical at President Trump’s age” and ultimately “confirms that he remains in excellent overall health.”
The latest memo from the White House follows a familiar pattern of tightly framed disclosures that have raised more questions than answers about Trump’s health in recent weeks, and Trump’s insistence on linking the MRI to his self-professed cognitive strength, “I got a perfect mark,” gave critics ammunition to argue that the White House continues to shield relevant information while Trump deflects with personal attacks.
“It’s clear Trump is bothered by reports on him being old, so he quickly got the doctor to ChatGPT something,” wrote political pundit Stephen Anderson on Threads. “Like we believe anything coming out of this White House,” another Threads user wrote.
Sunday’s confrontation also continues a pattern of personal attacks Trump has directed at female journalists over the past month. On Thursday, he erupted at CBS News’ Nancy Cordes after she questioned his claim in the aftermath of the D.C. National Guard shootings that the Biden administration failed to vet Afghan refugees properly.
“Are you a stupid person?” Trump said. “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.”
Senior Trump officials, led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, immediately claimed the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, had never been vetted and blamed former President Joe Biden for allowing him into the country following the 2021 U.S. pullout in Afghanistan. But immigration records show Lakanwal was granted asylum earlier this year under the Trump administration, which should have required additional vetting.
Despite this, Trump targeted veteran New York Times reporter Katie Rogers, accusing her of being “assigned to only write bad things” about him and calling her “a third-rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”
Earlier in the month, he turned on Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg’s White House correspondent. When she attempted to ask about the Epstein files, the president cut her off: “Quiet, piggy.”
