What to Know
President Donald Trump ripped a reporter from a conservative-leaning network on Monday for asking him a question related to the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
Trump lashed out at a reporter from Newsmax — a typically pro-Trump TV network — for asking him about his decision to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to U.S. airports. The Trump administration announced the move on Sunday amid the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown that has caused massive security lines at airports across the country.
“Who are you with?” Trump asked the reporter. “Newsmax, sir,” the reporter responded.
“You’re not doing a very good job,” Trump told him as the reporter began to ask another question. “You’re not doing a good job. Did you hear me?”
Trump then called on a CNN reporter instead. “Can you believe it? I’m taking CNN over Newsmax. Can you believe it?” Trump said.
Trump later quipped that he did not believe the Newsmax reporter will be at the network “long.”
Later in the same press availability, Trump defended the decision to send ICE agents to airports on Monday, but clarified that he did not think they should be wearing masks.
“ICE has done very well. I’ve requested now, you know, I’m a big believer that they should be able to wear masks when they go and hunt down murderous criminals and others, but for purposes of the airport, I’ve requested that they take off the mask. I don’t like it for the airport, and I believe they are willing to do that,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
When asked why he did not want ICE agents wearing masks at the airport, he said it’s because “people coming into the airport, typically speaking, aren’t murderers, killers, drug dealers.”
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at reporters for asking him basic questions about his decisions, policies and the ongoing war with Iran. Just last week, he criticized an ABC News reporter for asking him a question on troop deployment to the Middle East.
“You’re a very obnoxious person,” he told the reporter last week.
Lauren Sforza | NJ.com; nj.com; (TNS) || ©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
