Trump told a reporter ‘don’t ever talk again’ after the man pressed him twice in one Oval Office session

President Donald Trump sharply rebuked a reporter during an Oval Office press session on Monday, telling him to “don’t ever talk again” after being pressed twice on the same line of questioning. As reported by Mediaite, the exchange took place during a tightly managed session that featured questions from several outlets.

The reporter, Jake Traylor of MS NOW, first asked whether the president had signed off on a deal between Acting Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche and GOP senators to end a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund in exchange for their support during confirmation. Trump said he trusted Blanche’s judgment on the matter and suggested the agreement simply reaffirmed positions Blanche had already stated publicly.

When Traylor asked a follow-up about whether other avenues existed for the president to direct payments to his supporters if the fund was eliminated, Trump asked which outlet the reporter worked for. After hearing the name MS NOW, he dismissed the network as a rebranded version of a channel that had failed to attract viewers.

The tension boiled over once Trump moved on to a different topic

The confrontation escalated later in the session as Trump criticized U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro over her handling of a vandalism case. When Traylor tried to ask whether the president was reconsidering Pirro’s role, Trump cut him off, dismissed him as a purveyor of “fake news,” and told him, “don’t ever talk again.”

The moment came during a busy stretch of political coverage online. Around the same time, a separate viral dispute over a lost job was drawing its own wave of attention for unrelated reasons.

The exchange happened during a high-stakes week for the administration. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 on Tuesday to advance Blanche’s nomination, moving him closer to a confirmation vote before the Senate’s August recess, according to NPR. The nomination had stalled over the $1.8 billion fund, which was created as part of a settlement resolving a lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns.

To secure enough support for the confirmation vote, Blanche formally rescinded the fund late Sunday, a move aimed at satisfying holdout senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who had demanded written assurances the fund would be terminated. Blanche said no members had been appointed to direct the fund, no money had been transferred, and no claims had been paid out.

Even with the committee’s approval, the path to full confirmation remains narrow. Senator Susan Collins has already said she will oppose the nomination over concerns about the independence of the Justice Department, while Senator Lisa Murkowski has indicated she is still weighing her decision, leaving Republicans with little room for additional defections in a closely divided Senate.

Elsewhere in the news cycle, a separate consumer lawsuit making headlines had nothing to do with the confirmation fight but was drawing similar attention online.