At the end of a White House roundtable discussion about college sports on Friday, Donald Trump said he would take one or two questions from reporters and chose Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy.
Doocy asked the president about reports from the Washington Post and Fox News claiming that Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran that could help it target U.S. assets in retaliatory strikes.
Before the question was finished, Trump interrupted and joked that possible Russian assistance to Iran in the conflict involving the United States and Israel was “an easy problem compared to what we’re doing here,” referring to the ongoing discussion about changes to college athletics.
After laughter from supporters in the room, Trump criticized the reporter for bringing up the war.
He told Doocy that although he respected him and appreciated his past coverage, asking such a question at that moment was “stupid” because the event was focused on another topic.
Earlier on Friday, the Associated Press reported that Russia — whose president, Vladimir Putin, met with Trump last year to discuss ending the war in Ukraine — had provided Iran with information that could help it strike American warships, aircraft, and other military assets in the region. The report cited two officials familiar with U.S. intelligence.
A few minutes later, Trump again pointed to Doocy and offered him another opportunity to ask a question, saying the previous one had been a bad question.
When the reporter asked whether he could raise a topic other than college sports, Trump refused.
Doocy then asked why the president was hosting a sports-focused event at a time when major global developments were unfolding. Trump briefly commented on the situation in Iran but did not address the question about Russia’s involvement.
He said the United States was doing very well in Iran and joked that he would rate the situation between “12 and 15” on a scale from zero to ten.
Since launching the military campaign against Iran together with Israel from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday, Trump has largely avoided taking questions from reporters.
The following day, after returning to the White House, he ignored shouted questions about Iran while stopping in the Rose Garden to admire newly installed statues of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson
On Sunday, Donald Trump avoided answering questions about the conflict with Iran while examining a newly installed statue of Thomas Jefferson in the White House Rose Garden.
Photo: Nathan Howard / Reuters.
As journalists shouted questions such as “Mr. President, what is your main objective?” and “Who do you want to lead Iran?”, Trump pointed toward the bronze statues and replied, “Unbelievable statues. You’ll see—come take a look at them.”
Reporters were kept at a distance and could only call out requests for the president to come closer and address questions about Iran.
Instead, Trump turned around and walked away without slowing down, even as one reporter asked what message he had for the families of service members who had been killed.