Trump Explodes at Female CBS Reporter During Heated Exchange (Video)

President Donald Trump ignited another firestorm at the White House Thursday after launching a stunning verbal attack on a female journalist during a tense exchange over the Afghan suspect accused of fatally shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

The outburst unfolded when CBS News chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes pressed Trump about whether federal vetting failures—not immigration policy—might have allowed the alleged gunman, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, to enter the United States.

REPORTER: "Why do you blame the Biden Administration?"

TRUMP: "Because they let him! Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? Because they came in on a plane — along with thousands of other people that SHOULDN'T BE HERE."

pic.twitter.com/dDPnPP997b

— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) November 28, 2025

Cordes pointed out that the suspect had “worked very closely with the CIA in Afghanistan for years” and that federal officials said he had been “vetted and the vetting came up clean.”

Trump snapped back, his tone rising. “He went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts,” the president said. “They came in on planes, unvetted, unchecked. We have a lot of others in this country and we’re going to get them out.”

When Cordes challenged his claim, citing a Justice Department Inspector General report confirming that Afghans brought to the U.S. had undergone full FBI and DHS screening, Trump lost his composure completely.

“Because they let them in,” he shouted. “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?”

According to reporters in the room, Cordes stood her ground, raising an eyebrow but refusing to engage further as the president continued his tirade. “You’re just asking questions because you’re a stupid person,” Trump fumed.

The exchange marked the latest in a long line of clashes between Trump and female journalists since returning to the White House earlier this year.

Just last week, he called a New York Times reporter “ugly” after she questioned his recent health scare, and earlier this month he told Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey to “be quiet, piggy” during a briefing about the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

“Trump has always seen tough questioning from women as a personal threat,” said political analyst Dr. Marcia Littlefield of Georgetown University. “It’s part of a decades-long pattern of trying to diminish female authority in public spaces.”

Thursday’s confrontation came amid national outrage over the deadly shooting of two National Guard members—Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24—who were attacked while on security duty near the Capitol on Wednesday. Beckstrom later died of her injuries.

Trump offered condolences, calling Beckstrom “an incredible person, outstanding in every way,” before pivoting to blame what he described as “Biden-era chaos.”

“The whole Afghanistan situation was a disgrace,” Trump said. “They brought people in without knowing who they were, and now look at what’s happening.”

Lakanwal, who entered the U.S. in 2021 during the chaotic evacuation following Kabul’s collapse, has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Civil rights advocates and journalists’ groups condemned Trump’s remarks. “There’s no excuse for a president calling a reporter ‘stupid’ for doing her job,” said Maria Hinojosa, founder of the Latino USA project. “This kind of language is meant to intimidate and silence.”

Political scientist Eric Lander added, “Trump’s attacks on journalists are deliberate — they fire up his base while distracting from real accountability. But this one hits especially hard, because he’s shouting down a woman asking about facts.”

Even some within Trump’s own circle reportedly cringed. One West Wing staffer told NBC anonymously that the president “knows he crossed a line” but was “in one of his moods.”

As the White House refused to comment further, Cordes left the briefing room quietly, later posting a simple message to X: ‘Journalism is not stupidity. It’s accountability.’

The Afghan shooter case continues to unfold as both victims’ families prepare for public memorials this weekend.

Source: CBS News, White House Pool Report, NBC Washington, DOJ OIG Report (2025).