Trump has repeatedly targeted Scott over the years, calling her “nasty” and “hostile” at a 2024 event for Black journalists.

Donald Trump again attacks ABC reporter Rachel Scott, says she can ‘understand dirt’ as ‘horror show’ reporter

Trump has repeatedly targeted Scott over the years, calling her "nasty" and "hostile" at a 2024 event for Black journalists.

Joey Nolfi

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes RuPaul’s Drag Race video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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May 8, 2026 3:45 p.m. ET

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Donald Trump; Rachel Scott. Credit:

Anna Moneymaker/Getty; Andrew Harnik/Getty

- Donald Trump has once again targeted ABC reporter Rachel Scott at a press conference in Washington, D.C.

- The president called the reporter a "horror show" and blasted her for asking what he felt was a "stupid question."

- Trump previously drew criticism for harshly attacking Scott at a 2024 event for Black journalists.

Donald Trump has once again targeted ABC reporter Rachel Scott, with the president's latest verbal attack on the journalist coming after he felt she asked "such a stupid question" at a recent press conference.

Trump on Thursday spoke out against Scott — years after he came after her at a 2024 event for Black journalists — at a press conference in Washington, D.C., where the network personality asked him about his priorities amid an ongoing war with Iran.

"You are here against the backdrop of the war in Iran. Why focus on all these projects right now?" Scott asked Trump, who was in the nation's capital as work continues on alterations to the reflecting pool outside the Lincoln Memorial, a move that many have called unnecessary.

Trump in January 2024.

Shannon Stapleton-Pool/Getty

"I want to keep our country beautiful and safe," Trump replied. "This was a disgusting place. Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and we had a terrible, disgusting... you probably don't see dirt, but I do."

He then singled Scott out for her inquiry, calling it "such a stupid question that you asked" and again leaning into his initiative to fix up the reflecting pond.

"You can understand dirt, maybe, better than I can, but I don't allow it," Trump told Scott, who last year won a Gracie Award for outstanding contributions to journalism. "This is one of the worst reporters. She's with 'ABC Fake News,' and she's a horror show."

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Looking off to his side, he said, "She's saying, 'Why would you bother fixing this up?'" though, according to footage shared from the exchange, that was not Scott's question.

"Why would I bother taking 11 or 12 truck loads of filth out of the water in front of the Lincoln Monument? That's what made our country great," Trump continued. "Beauty made our country... people made our county great. A question like that is a disgrace to our country."

** has reached out to a representative for ABC News for comment.

Trump previously came for Scott at the 2024 National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, where he made headlines for criticizing at least two prominent Black women.

Trump in December 2025.

Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty

“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner. First question, you don’t even say, ‘Hello, how are you?’ Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network, a terrible network. I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit," Trump said in his first response to one of Scott's questions at the event, as she asked him about attacking Black journalists in the past.

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Trump went on to describe her as "nasty" and "hostile" at the event, where he additionally questioned Vice President Kamala Harris' racial identity by saying that Harris — who is of Black and Indian descent — "was Indian all the way" earlier in her career, "then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person," he asserted.

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