President Donald Trump sat down for what he seemed to think would be a friendly, flattering conversation — a victory lap of sorts after being celebrated as a global power player — but the moment a real question landed, everything unraveled.
Trump had personally extended the White House invitation after Politico placed him at the top of a prominent international influence list, the kind of gesture that reliably puts him in a triumphant, praise-seeking mood. But the tone flipped the instant reporter Dasha Burns pressed him on a subject he clearly didn’t want to touch.
The tension snapped when Burns asked whether he would rule out a U.S. ground invasion of Venezuela and threats against Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
“Can you rule out an American ground invasion,” Burns asked, “in Venezuela?”
“I don’t want to rule in or out,” Trump answered. “I don’t talk about it.
When Burns pushed for clarity — the kind of routine follow-up any world leader could expect — Trump’s demeanor shifted sharply. His irritation spiked, his voice tightened, and he lashed out, suddenly claiming the interview was with “an extremely unfriendly publication” and dredging up a long-debunked allegation about Obama-era funding.
“Why would I talk to you, an extremely unfriendly publication … that got $8 million from Obama to keep it afloat? Why would I do that?” Trump snapped. “I mean, I’m doing this because you picked me as the man for Europe … I thought it was appropriate.”
The irony wasn’t lost on viewers and reactions came fast and furious.
“Cuz it’s your job to be transparent with us you gas bag,” one commenter wrote.
Another simply summed up the mood: “This shit is getting out of hand!” Another added with a graphic, “This ninja is … just plain nuts!”
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Some users focused on what they saw as Trump’s defensive behavior, with one calling him “a sad half washed out old sh-t stain of a human” and saying, “He has to deflect with aggression, it’s all he’s got.”
Others pointed out the obvious, noting that he had personally invited Burns for the interview. “You literally invited her there to talk to her….”
The backlash capped weeks of heightened criticism over Trump’s pattern of lashing out at female reporters, often in personal terms and often when confronted with policy-based inquiries.
The interview itself had covered a wide range of topics — NATO, Ukraine, health care, immigration — but nothing rattled Trump more than being asked point-blank about military options in Venezuela. He repeatedly refused to say whether a ground operation or targeted strikes were on the table.
“I don’t want to talk to you about military strategy,” he insisted.
Instead, he leaned heavily on his claim that Maduro had “sent us millions of people” — including criminals, gang members and psychiatric patients — during Biden’s presidency, which he described as a period when the border was “out of control.”
Though he refused to outline any strategy, he reiterated that Maduro’s “days are numbered,” framing the situation as an extension of his broader border and anti-crime agenda.
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When Burns raised the subject of transparency, Trump shot back with no sense that he’s a walking contradiction. “I am the most transparent politician maybe in the world, OK?” he declared — moments after refusing to answer basic strategy questions.
One viewer captured the contradiction perfectly, “I don’t want to talk about it, why would I tell you?” to “I’m the most transparent.” I get whiplash listening to this ass contradict himself within the course of a single sentence.”
“He doesn’t want transparency. He wants people to just shut up and let him do whatever he wants to do,” another fumed.
The interview grew more combative when it shifted to the controversial Sept. 2 boat strike. Trump repeatedly said he didn’t care whether his defense secretary testified about the second strike — “He can if he wants” — and offered only a cursory assessment of the footage, saying the survivors looked like they were “trying to turn back over the boat.”
He insisted he doesn’t involve himself in targeting decisions and repeatedly returned to his claim that each interdicted vessel “saves 25,000 American lives,” portraying the admiral who ordered the strike as “highly respected.”
Burns countered that the DEA does not view Venezuela as a significant fentanyl source, but Trump dismissed that, asserting that the drug boats come “largely from Venezuela” and are often loaded with visible “bags and bags” of narcotics.
From there, he escalated into sweeping claims that Maduro’s government had “emptied their prisons” into the U.S., sending “11,888 murderers” across the border — figures he said Biden foolishly accepted. He argued that some of those individuals are too dangerous to deport and must be imprisoned here.
When asked whether his tough posture would extend to Mexico and Colombia, he said “Yeah, I would.” And when pressed on his pardon of Honduras’ former president — convicted in a major trafficking case — Trump defended it as a response to a political “setup,” pivoting once again to complaints about “weaponized government” and concluding that he, unlike others, had survived this “weaponization.”
