The next stop for Donald Trump was the Machine Shed in suburban Des Moines, Iowa. On the sidelines of the event, Trump interacted with the media and went on to snub a journalist from the ABC network.
When reporter Rachel Scott, of ABC News, asked Trump, “You talked a lot about Minnesota. Some of your own administration officials have labeled Alex Pretti…,” he interrupted her and accused the network she works for of covering “fake news.”
“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 really like her too much,” Trump said, addressing the reporter. Trump then called it a “very unfortunate incident.”
Trump to Rachel Scott: “This is ABC fake news. This one. I think a nice woman, but I don’t really like her too much. ABC is about as bad as they get.” pic.twitter.com/B4mhC0B2hV
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 27, 2026
Meanwhile, another journalist, Jake Traylor, shared a picture of Trump from the event and wrote on X, “After a dark-colored bruise was spotted on Trump’s left hand last week, the President keeps his left glove on during a restaurant stop in Iowa.”
Responding to the viral claim, the Official White House Rapid Response account, on X, replied, “FAKE Traylor strikes again. What Fake doesn’t mention is that POTUS took his glove off to sign hats for some great Iowa Patriots, which he was doing just moments before this screenshot was taken. The pen is literally still in his hand.”
FAKE Traylor strikes again. What Fake doesn’t mention is that @POTUS took his glove off to sign hats for some great Iowa Patriots, which he was doing just moments before this screenshot was taken.
The pen is literally still in his hand. https://t.co/Z5tK5ACJK7
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 27, 2026
This isn’t the first time that Trump has dismissed a reporter from ABC. Last year, during a press conference, the US President told a journalist, “I don’t take questions from ABC fake news. After what you did with Stephanopoulos to the Vice President of the United States, I don’t take questions from ABC fake news.”
Not that Trump’s complicated relationship with the media needs an introduction, but in case you require one, he is repeatedly seen making misogynistic attacks on female journalists. From calling them “piggy” to “terrible person” to mansplaining to them, Trump is often schooled for his behavior with journalists.
Speaking of Trump and the curious case of his hand bruises, during his Davos visit for the World Economic Forum last week, zoomed-in photographs of Trump’s bruised hands started spreading like wildfire on social media, leading to speculations and rumors.
Trump’s *left* hand — not the one that is usually disfigured — now has a large bruise and is discolored
These pictures are from today in Davos and are via Chip Somodevilla (Getty) and Fabrice Coffrini (AFP) pic.twitter.com/FRp4RdITSp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 22, 2026
Dismissing the rumors about Trump’s declining health, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, “At the Board of Peace event today in Davos, President Trump hit his hand on the corner of the signing table, causing it to bruise.”
Trump also talked about his bruised hands during an interaction with a reporter on Air Force One, where he said, “I clipped it on the table. I would say take aspirin if you like your heart, but don’t take aspirin if you don’t want to have a little bruising. I take the big aspirin. And when you take the big aspirin, they tell you, you bruise.”
“The doctors said, ‘You don’t have to take that, sir. You are very healthy.’ I said, I’m not taking any chances. That’s one of the side effects of taking aspirin,” Trump told the reporters last week.
