President Donald Trump earned billions of dollars, married a supermodel, and twice (thrice?) won election to the nation’s highest office.
One may forgive him, therefore, if he stays true to the methods that got him there.
In Iowa on Tuesday, Trump introduced an “ABC Fake News” reporter to “The Art of the Deal” when he first insulted her, then praised her, and finally gave a measured-yet-purposeful answer to the question she tried to ask.
“Some of your own administration officials have labeled Alex Pretti — ,” the reporter said in a clip posted to the social media platform X, referring to the 37-year-old anti-ICE agitator killed in an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday.
Before she could finish her question, however, Trump interrupted her.
“By the way, this is ABC Fake News,” the president said.
When his supporters in the Iowa restaurant laughed, he spoke above the laughter and continued delivering barbs.
“She hasn’t asked me a good question in years,” Trump added. “I think a nice woman, but I don’t really like her too much.”
Then, the president turned to another reporter, though not without taking one final jab.
“I’d say ABC’s about as bad as they get,” he said.
🚨 LMAO! President Trump just SHUT DOWN a fake news reporter at his first stop in Iowa, making the room crack up
“By the way, this is ABC FAKE NEWS! This one. She hasn’t asked me a good question in YEARS! I THINK a nice woman, but I don’t like her too much! I’d say ABC is about… pic.twitter.com/57s9KHoir1
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 27, 2026
In another video posted to X, however, Trump did address the question the ABC reporter apparently tried to ask.
“Well, I haven’t heard that,” the president said of his own administration officials labeling Pretti a domestic terrorist.
Then, Trump made a very subtle point that everyone, especially ABC’s audience, needed to hear.
“Certainly, he shouldn’t have been carrying a gun,” the president added. “But all of — hey look, bottom line, everybody in this room, we view that as a very unfortunate incident, everyone, unless you’re a stupid person, a very, very unfortunate incident. I don’t like that he had a gun. I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That’s a lot of bad stuff. Despite that, I say that’s very unfortunate.”
Notice how the president made sure to mention the gun and loaded magazines. Assuming any open-minded viewers remain in ABC’s audience, Trump’s reminder that Pretti carried a loaded weapon should at least raise questions in viewers’ minds about what the anti-ICE agitator intended to do before his fatal encounter.
Every rational person supports the Second Amendment. No rational person endorses aggressively butting into a law enforcement operation while armed.
🚨 REPORTER: Do you agree with your officials calling Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I haven’t heard that, but he shouldn’t have carried a gun…unless you’re a stupid person, you view that as a very, very unfortunate incident! I don’t like he had a gun and 2… pic.twitter.com/NSJGu7dPMU
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 27, 2026
As he explained in his 1987 bestseller, “The Art of the Deal,” Trump often played hardball, but made sure to temper it with praise for his adversaries.
“At the time we fought a lot,” Trump wrote of then-New York City Mayor Ed Koch, “and even though I ended up beating him in court, I always thought he was bright. I don’t hold it against people that they have opposed me.”
Thus, referring to ABC as “Fake News” while praising the reporter as a “nice woman” is nothing new for Trump.
Above all, the president wants to make deals. In so doing, he genuinely believes that he can transform adversaries into allies. He might even consider it his own unique strength, and who could blame him?
One must concede, however, that a unique strength may degenerate into a fatal flaw.
For instance, on Monday, Trump appeared to make a deal of sorts with Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. Whatever the nature of the deal — the president agreed to “de-escalate a little bit,” according to the U.K. Guardian — Walz immediately reversed course and dropped his bellicose opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota, which have triggered anti-ICE protests, riots, and violence in that state this month, and finally ordered state police to arrest lawbreakers.
In this case, Trump, while appeasing his adversaries, risks demoralizing his supporters, many of whom regard Walz and Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis as insurrectionists.
Nonetheless, the president laid out his philosophy four decades ago, and he has stuck to it. He has even staffed his administration with former rivals or critics, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump won them over, along with many others. Who can say that he might not one day win over that “nice woman,” the ABC reporter?
Whether we like it or not, he will keep trying. After all, the approach has never failed him.
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