Trump calls reporter “obnoxious” after walking back promise to release Caribbean strike video

Trump calls reporter “obnoxious” after walking back promise to release Caribbean strike video

Pressed on a promise to release footage of a deadly boat strike in the Caribbean, President Donald Trump denied his own earlier remark and turned on the reporter questioning him, reigniting concerns over transparency and his treatment of the press.

At a White House availability on Monday, ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott asked Trump whether he would follow through on releasing full video of a September 2 US military strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat off the coast of Venezuela. The first strike, which sank the vessel, was filmed and made public. A second strike that killed survivors in the water has been shown only to members of Congress in classified settings.

Scott reminded the president that, five days earlier, he had told another ABC reporter that he had "no problem" with the second video being released. Trump cut in before she could finish her question, insisting he had never said that and accusing the network of fabricating his words. He then called Scott "the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place" and "a terrible reporter," comments that quickly circulated online.

The exchange has sharpened the political and ethical questions already surrounding the Caribbean operation. Lawmakers who have viewed the unreleased footage say the public deserves to see the full sequence, arguing that the follow up strike raises serious issues about rules of engagement. Human rights advocates have suggested the second attack could amount to an unlawful killing if the people in the water no longer posed an immediate threat.

Trump, however, shifted responsibility to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, telling reporters that whatever Hegseth decides about releasing the video is acceptable to him. Hegseth has told congressional leaders that he is still weighing the risks of publication, citing operational security and fears that raw footage could be used for propaganda or misinterpreted without context.

Media watchdogs and several Democratic lawmakers condemned Trump’s remarks about Scott, framing them as part of a long pattern of personal attacks on journalists who ask uncomfortable questions. The ABC correspondent later posted the earlier clip of Trump’s "no problem" comment on social media, inviting viewers to decide for themselves whether she had quoted him fairly.

For critics, the episode captures two intertwined concerns: a president who often disputes his own recorded words and a government that continues to withhold key material about a lethal use of force carried out in America’s name. Until the Pentagon decides whether to release the full video, questions about what exactly happened on the Caribbean Sea, and why the public cannot see it, are unlikely to fade.