Donald Trump told a female reporter, Catherine Lucey, to be “quiet, piggy”, after she asked why he refused to release the remaining Epstein files. The incident unfolded on Friday when the US president was travelling back to Washington. During the flight, the press confronted him about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein on Air Force One.

Trump singled out the Bloomberg reporter, pointed in her face and told her: “Quiet, quiet piggy.” A viral video of the moment circulated on social media, with critics bashing Trump. Occupy Democrats, a left-leaning political organisation, said: “This is the president of the United States. This is how he talks to the press and other adults that he is supposed to lead. America can do so much better!” Really American, another US political organisation, said it was a “disgusting moment” and described Mr Trump as a “disrespectful, unfit creep”.

Before making his remark, Trump told the reporter that he had a “very bad relationship” with Jeffrey Epstein before swiftly moving on to another question.

Users remain divided on what he actually said. However, many took to X to express their frustrations with the president.

One X user commented: “Did the President of the United States just humiliate a female member of the press corp by calling her ‘PIGGY?'”

Another one wrote: “This person is behaving inappropriately, he clearly has mental problems.” One said “this is the president of the United States who himself is overweight calling another person piggy,” attaching a GIF of Muppet icon Miss Piggy with their post.

The exchange comes as Trump’s administration battles to stay ahead of the Epstein scandal, which led to the former loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene breaking with the US President. In response, Trump has branded her a “traitor”.

In another extraordinary U-turn, Trump called for House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files later on Sunday.

“We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party…The House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE,” he wrote on Truth Social, just hours after Ms Lucey’s question.