'Complete meltdown': Trump slammed for telling reporter to 'be quiet'

07 September

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks upon his arrival at La Guardia Airport in New York for the U.S. Open men's tennis final, U.S., September 7, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

President Donald Trump sharply rebuked a reporter’s question Sunday about his administration’s renaming of the Defense Department.

“Are you ready to go to war with Chicago? Why use the Department of Defense?” the reporter asked the president as he departed the White House.

“Be quiet. Listen. You don’t listen. You never listen. That’s why you’re second rate. We’re not going to war. We’re gonna clean up our cities. … That’s not war, that’s common sense," he said.

The president’s curt dismissal came amid widespread scrutiny over his executive order to rebrand the Department of Defense as the “Department of War.”

On Saturday, Trump shared a video on his Truth Social platform unveiling the symbolic rebranding of the Pentagon as the “Department of War,” showing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, now portrayed as “War Secretary,” stiltedly delivering lines from prepared notes.

The Oval Office-staged video framed the renaming as an embrace of “maximum lethality — not tepid legality,” signaling a return to what officials referred to as “warrior ethos.”

However, because the official name “Department of Defense” is codified by federal law — specifically the National Security Act and its 1949 amendments — Trump’s executive order can only authorize the use of “Department of War” in a symbolic, non-statutory capacity.

Separately, a video posted by the White House falsely claimed Hegseth received a Bronze Star with a valor “V” — a designation for heroism — which was quickly debunked. The White House has since deleted the post.

Meanwhile, Trump's Sunday exchange with the reporter went viral and was criticized on social media.

Writer Tom Watson said in a post on the social platform X: "This is the definition of insanity."

"It's not the reporter who is second rate. It's Donald Trump who is a third rate, no good, low intellect President and all around bad person. Trump posted that 'Chicago will find out why it's called the Department of WAR.' and 'I love the smell of deportations in the morning,' mimicking 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning."'Trump is a disgusting sociopath," wrote Laurence Boorstein, a project manager.

Former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) reacted to the clip showing the exchange and wrote: "A stupid bully is still a stupid bully."

The X account @CallToActivism wrote: "Donald Trump has a complete meltdown when a reporter asks a great question about the Admin declaring war on American Cities. Trumps SNAPS and tells the reporter to 'be quiet' and 'listen.' Zero answers."

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