President Donald Trump stared down a reporter and joked after he was hit in the face by a boom microphone on Friday, as he spoke to media at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Newsweek contacted the White House press office for comment via email on Saturday outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
Although the President took the incident in good humor, some conservative commentators treated it as a potential security lapse, in the light of the assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13 2024, and the arrest of an armed man at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, two months later. Laura Loomer said “security should tighten up” in a post on X.
What To Know
Trump was taking questions from journalists at the military airfield when the reporter nudged a boom microphone across the president’s face, apparently by accident.
But the impact was softened by the mic’s fluffy “dead cat” cover, which is used to minimize the sound of wind and other noises during filming outdoors.
Video of the incident shows Trump moving his head back as the mic makes contact, then glaring toward the individual responsible before raising both eyebrows.
However the president saw the funny side, commenting “she just made television tonight” with regard to the reporter involved, then adding: “She just became a big story tonight.”
During the impromptu press conference Trump took questions on a range of topics including the ongoing war in Ukraine, negotiations to release Israeli hostages held by the Hamas militant group and his tariff policy.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY
Speaking about the potential for a ceasefire in Ukraine Trump said: “We’ve had some pretty good news coming out of Russia, we’re hearing good things who knows … they’re in a very strong position militarily with quite a few Ukrainian soldiers but hopefully nothing will happen with that … I feel that Russia is going to make a deal with us I hope.”
Ukraine has already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire provided Russia does the same.
What People Are Saying
Loomer, a prominent conservative influencer with more than 1.5 million X followers, shared the video of Trump getting hit with the mic adding: “How on earth did a reporter get that boom mic so close to Trump’s face? This just doesn’t seem right. Security should tighten up. Embarrassing for the press.”
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk posted: “President Trump was just smacked in the face by a reporter’s boom mic. Unreal these people. Have some respect.”
However, Ben Garrison, a cartoonist with 215,000 X followers, took a more humorous approach: Sharing a mocked up image of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton holding a mic, and waring a false mustache and two sets of sunglasses, he wrote: “Now it makes sense…..First photo released of the boom mic operator that hit President Trump in the face.”
What Happens Next
Given the ongoing threat to Trump the Secret Service will continue taking any danger to his health extremely seriously. No investigation into Friday’s incident has been announced at this time.