President Donald Trump repeatedly told CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes to “be quiet” Monday after she pressed him about his conversations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The exchange came during an Oval Office event honoring teenage lifeguard Ryder Williams, where Trump said earlier that he had recently communicated with the North Korean leader.
After another reporter asked whether Trump was prioritizing North Korea over longtime U.S. allies by scaling back military exercises with South Korea, Trump argued that his relationship with Kim made the region safer.
“Kim Jong-un has always treated me with great respect,” Trump said. “I understand him, he understands me.”
Holmes then asked whether Kim had requested that Trump scale back the exercises.
“Quiet. You’re very disrespectful in front of this young man, okay?” Trump said, referring to Williams. “Don’t you find her disrespectful?”
As Holmes continued, Trump asked which outlet she worked for.
“I’m with CNN,” Holmes replied.
“Fake news,” Trump said.
“You’re a loud, boisterous person. You’re faking news!” he added before again telling Holmes, “Be quiet!”
The White House escalated Monday’s clash after the event. Its Rapid Response account attacked Holmes on X as a “disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession” and accused her of using an event honoring Williams to take “a cheap shot.”
“These scumbags are the lowest of the low,” the account added.
“Kristen Holmes is one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House,” a CNN spokesperson said in response. “This afternoon, she did her job and asked the President of the United States a tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people. Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press. We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms.”
You can watch the exchange yourself in the video below.
.@KristenhCNN is a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession.@POTUS hosts a hero lifeguard in the Oval Office and she uses it as an opportunity to take a cheap shot about one of President Trump’s staffers. These scumbags are the lowest of the low. pic.twitter.com/oUrwbAtBfJ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2026
The confrontation marked the latest instance of Trump personally attacking a female reporter who dared to question him. TheWrap chronicled a series of similar incidents in December, involving journalists from CNN, ABC News, CBS News, Bloomberg, Newsday and The New York Times.
Those included Trump telling Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey, “Quiet, quiet piggy!” as she questioned him about the Jeffrey Epstein files. He also called CNN’s Kaitlan Collins “stupid and nasty,” asked CBS News’ Nancy Cordes if she was “stupid” and called ABC News’ Rachel Scott an “obnoxious” and “terrible reporter.”
The post Trump Shouts at CNN’s Kristen Holmes to ‘Be Quiet’ in Latest Clash With Female Journalist appeared first on TheWrap.
