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By Hollie Silverman
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President Donald Trump renewed his personal attacks on a Reuters journalist Saturday, posting a photograph of the reporter on Truth Social following a confrontation over brief changes to the president’s campaign schedule.
The Truth Social post featured a photograph of White House correspondent Jacob Bogage accompanied with Trump writing, "Reuters (One of the Worst!) reporter." The image also included text repeating remarks Trump directed at Bogage during a Thursday exchange: “Put yourself in shape. You look like hell!”
The post followed a press briefing where Bogage asked the president how he was feeling after weeks on the campaign trail and whether a briefly canceled trip to Kansas was related to being “sick of traveling.”
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Trump responded by attacking the reporter’s physical appearance.
“You've been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect,” Trump said Thursday, adding, “You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape, you look like hell.”
Trump also described Reuters as “terrible” and rejected suggestions that his health influenced the schedule changes, stating he initially did not believe he needed to campaign in Kansas.
The confrontation came in the closing days of the midterm campaign as Trump and Republicans mounted a final push before voters head to the polls Tuesday.
As part of a nationwide midterm blitz, Trump has held 25 rallies in 19 states since October 1, with recent stops including Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Alaska, Iowa, Montana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Florida as Republicans fight to retain control of Congress.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) initially announced that planned Trump rallies in Kansas and Iowa had been canceled in favor of tele-rallies intended to reach voters across nearly 20 states. RNC chairman Joe Gruters said the shift would allow Trump to reach more voters during a final “72-hour sprint.”
However, the schedule changed again less than a day later. The Kansas rally had initially been planned for Saturday and the Iowa rally for Sunday. After both were briefly canceled, the events were restored to Trump’s schedule for Sunday.
The abrupt changes came as traditionally Republican-friendly Kansas and Iowa host competitive Senate contests, with control of Congress at stake. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, while all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are on the midterm ballot.
Newsweek reached out to Reuters by email Saturday for comment.
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Trump’s Previous Attacks on Reporters and the Press
The exchange is the latest in a series of confrontations between Trump and journalists during his second term.
Earlier in October, Trump snapped at multiple journalists while answering questions in the Oval Office, warning one reporter to “be careful” and telling another: “I actually think there's something wrong with you.”
The president has also targeted news organizations over coverage he considers unfair. In September, Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds after accusing them of publishing “fake news.” Trump has also repeatedly clashed with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, criticizing her questions and attacking the network. The outlets sued, arguing that the ban constituted retaliation based on their coverage and violated the First Amendment and their due-process rights.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily blocked the ban and ordered the White House to restore the outlets’ credentials, finding that they were likely to succeed on their claim that access had been revoked without due process. The judge later extended the order, allowing their reporters to continue entering White House grounds.
The case currently remains unresolved. On October 28, the outlets amended their lawsuit, alleging that the administration was still excluding them from press-pool assignments in restricted areas such as the Oval Office and Air Force One. They are asking the court to permanently restore the same pool access they had before the ban.
The Associated Press has faced a separate battle with the Trump administration over access to presidential events. The dispute began in February 2025 after the AP continued using the term "Gulf of Mexico" rather than Trump's preferred "Gulf of America."
The administration subsequently restricted AP journalists from certain limited-access events, including the Oval Office and Air Force One. The AP sued, arguing that the restrictions amounted to retaliation for its editorial decisions and violated the First Amendment. A federal judge later ruled that the AP was likely to prevail on its First Amendment claim and ordered the White House to restore its access while the case continued.
The administration appealed, arguing that the White House has broad authority to determine which journalists participate in events where space is limited. An appeals court allowed the restrictions to remain in place while the litigation continued. The AP case has since become an important backdrop to the newer dispute involving CNN, MS NOW and Politico, with both sides offering competing interpretations of how much control the White House has over limited press access and whether that authority can be used to exclude news organizations because of their coverage.
Reuters and the Huffington Post have not faced the same blanket White House ban as the AP or the September restrictions imposed on CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
However, reporters for Reuters and the HuffPost were among those barred from covering Trump's first Cabinet meeting in February 2025. Reuters had been a longtime participant in the presidential press pool, while HuffPost had been scheduled to provide the print pool reporter that day before being removed and replaced by another outlet.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Anthony Murray and Steve Mollman.
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