Who Is Mary Bruce? Inside the Clash With Trump Over Khashoggi, Epstein Questions

NEW YORK: The American president Donald Trump has brutally taken a dig at ABC News’s Mary Bruce on Tuesday, calling her a “terrible reporter” and threatening the network’s license to broadcast after she asked him three sharp questions at the White House.

The head of the network’s White House correspondent was among the reporters permitted into the Oval Office to question Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and President Trump. Mary Bruce asked Trump whether it was appropriate for his family to be doing business in Saudi Arabia while he was president.

However, before Trump responded, Bruce asked a question to Prince bin Salman, questioning, “Your Royal Highness, the US intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you? And the same to you, Mr. President.”

Moreover, following asking Bruce who she worked for, Trump referred to ABC as “fake news” and backed his family’s business settled in Saudi Arabia.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, rejected US intelligence findings that the prince was expectedly involved in the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi regime. “A lot of people didn’t like Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen and a Virginia resident,” Trump added.

Meanwhile, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, for his part, remarked Jamal Khashoggi’s death was painful and a “huge mistake.”

The US head later chastised Bruce for questioning Prince, calling it “horrible, insubordinate, and just a terrible question.” Trump ripped into her after the third question, regarding why the White House is waiting for congressional action to release additional facts about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s correspondence. “Why not just do it now?” Bruce inquired.

Responding to a query from a reporter, Trump said, “It’s not a question that I mind; it’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter; it’s the way you ask these questions.”

“It’s not the question that I mind,” Trump said. “It’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions.”

After answering the Epstein question, Trump returned to Bruce, stating that “people are wise to your hoax.”

“I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong.” The US president warned, adding, “And we have a great (FCC) commissioner, the chairman, who should look at that because I think when you come in and you’re 97% negative to Trump. And then Trump wins the election in a landslide. That means, obviously, your news is not credible. And you’re not credible as a reporter.”

Furthermore, ABC News regarding this had reacted on Tuesday to Trump’s remarks, referring to FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who leads the federal institution authorized for licensing local broadcast stations.