Whispers inside Washington suggest there’s more happening than meets the eye.
Observers note a pattern—carefully timed outbursts, escalating hostility, and a communications strategy that feels less accidental and more deliberate.
Some insiders claim that former President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on journalists, particularly women, may be strategic moves aimed at shaping the narrative during a challenging period for his administration.
A Targeted Pattern
Trump’s clashes with the press are hardly new. What has drawn attention recently, however, is the consistent focus on female reporters.
Despite the White House’s insistence that gender plays no role, the repeated nature of these verbal assaults has sparked a renewed debate over decorum, bias, and intent.
In November, Trump provoked backlash when addressing a Bloomberg reporter covering the Epstein documents, snapping, “Quiet, piggy.” A few days later, he went after a CNN correspondent, calling her “nasty” and “stupid.” Even the Thanksgiving week did not slow the rhetoric. Truth Social became a platform for attacks on political rivals, public officials, and journalists alike, including ableist and Islamophobic slurs aimed at figures like Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar.
When asked about the suspect in an attack on National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., Trump lashed out again: “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?” CNN’s chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins was among the most recent targets. After questioning Trump on White House upgrades, including a new ballroom allegedly funded entirely by private donations, he posted online:
“Caitlin Collin’s of Fake News CNN, always Stupid and Nasty…”
He continued to tout the project as “under budget and ahead of schedule… larger and more beautiful than first designed,” adding yet another jab at “FAKE NEWS CNN.”
Pushback from the Press
CNN responded swiftly:
“Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional journalist… audiences around the world know they can trust her reporting.”
Collins herself provided a subtle correction on Instagram, noting her question had actually been about Venezuela—a deadly explosion that claimed more than 80 lives, which some reports controversially claimed involved a “double tap,” a tactic considered a war crime under international law.
Meanwhile, Trump fired back at The New York Times after it reported signs of presidential fatigue and the challenges of aging in office:
“The Creeps at the Failing New York Times are at it again… I have never worked so hard in my life.”
He added that recent medical evaluations prove his energy remains high, while the Times stood by its reporting.
The Gender Debate
Despite the focus on women journalists, the White House continues to deny gender bias. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Independent:
“President Trump has never been politically correct, never holds back, and that transparency is exactly why the American people re-elected him. This has nothing to do with gender. It’s about the public’s trust in the media being at historic lows.”
Conclusion
Trump’s increasingly personal attacks—particularly against women in the press—have reignited scrutiny of his relationship with the media. Allies insist that gender plays no role, but critics argue the repeated targeting is telling. As tensions mount, one thing remains clear: the dynamic between the Trump White House and the free press continues to be adversarial, highly consequential, and far from resolved.