President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter during a Friday afternoon press conference in the Oval Office, calling her “really obnoxious” when his attempts to shush her failed.
Ebony McMorris, a White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, was attempting to ask Trump about his plans for sending the National Guard into Memphis to combat crime, after doing the same in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
“When are you going to give details,” McMorris began, before the president quickly cut her off and said, “Quiet. You’re really obnoxious.”
McMorris stood her ground, responding, “I’m not obnoxious, but I’m trying to ask you about your plans for Memphis.” She repeated her question as Trump continued to talk over her, then called her obnoxious a second time.
The president next attempted to shut McMorris down entirely, telling her, “I’m not going to talk to you until I call on you.” He did not call on her for the remainder of the press conference.
The verbal dust-up comes just days after the president had words with Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist John Lyons, who questioned Trump over whether it was “appropriate” that he “should be engaged in so much business activity” while serving as commander in chief.
“In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now, and they want to get along with me,” Trump replied, before adding that he has an upcoming meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “I’m going to tell them about you. You set a very bad tone.”
As for McMorris’ questions about Memphis: On Monday, Trump—accompanied by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee—signed an order to establish a new federal task force in Memphis that combines the National Guard, the FBI, immigration authorities, U.S. marshals, and other law enforcement agencies.
Trump said of the task force, “It’s very important because of the crime that’s going on in many cities, not only in Memphis, and we’re going to take care of all of them. Step by step, just like we did in D.C.”
National Guard troops deployed to D.C. were reportedly so in need of tasks to occupy their time and justify their deployment to the capital that they began seeking out neighborhood beautification projects as locals continued to feel increasingly concerned about the ongoing presence of soldiers in their city.
The Trump administration has claimed that Memphis locals are hailing the deployment of soldiers to their city as a “long-overdue lifeline.” Memphis Mayor Paul Young told CNN that while he was not consulted on the decision and was “certainly not happy” about it, he hoped to “have the opportunity to drive some of the decisions” around how soldiers will be used in his city.
“With regards to the National Guard, it is something that we don’t have a choice in, and we’re going to do all we can to ensure it has limited impact on our community.”
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