GOP Rep. Salazar Defends Trump After He Calls Reporter 'Piggy' as Epstein Emails Renew Scrutiny

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) defended President Trump on Tuesday after he reportedly referred to a female reporter as "piggy" during an exchange aboard Air Force One. Salazar told CNN host Jake Tapper she evaluates the president by his policy agenda rather than his personality.

"President Trump is a very picturesque and difficult and different type of politician. But I always say that I look at his policies and not at his personality," Salazar said. "No one is perfect. Those who are perfect are in heaven."

The exchange occurred after Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey asked the president about his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Witnesses and recordings indicate Trump interrupted and said, "Quiet. Quiet, piggy." A White House official later defended the president in a statement, saying the reporter "behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane" and adding, "If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take it."

Epstein documents prompt renewed attention

The confrontation comes as newly released emails from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have kept Epstein-related matters in the headlines. The documents, released last week, show Epstein invoked Trump in several messages to associates before Epstein’s July 2019 death, which was ruled a suicide.

One January 2019 email quotes Epstein telling columnist Michael Wolff that "of course [Trump] knew about the girls as he asked [Ghislaine Maxwell] to stop." Another April 2011 message reportedly has Epstein telling Maxwell — who is serving a federal sentence — that Trump was the "dog that hasn’t barked" and that Trump "spent hours at my house" with one woman identified in the files. Democrats redacted the victim’s name; the released records indicate it may have been Virginia Giuffre.

Responses from journalists and commentators

Trump’s comments drew rebukes from colleagues of the reporters involved. After the plane exchange, CNN’s Jake Tapper called the remark "disgusting and completely unacceptable." The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins criticized the president’s behavior as beneath public standards for civility, while CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins defended both Lucey and ABC’s correspondent Mary Bruce on social media.

During a separate Oval Office exchange with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, ABC correspondent Mary Bruce pressed questions about potential business ties and the crown prince’s role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The president dismissed the network as "fake news" and later called Bruce "a terrible person and a terrible reporter," even suggesting the Federal Communications Commission should revoke the network's broadcast license.

The episode highlights continuing tensions between the White House and members of the press amid ongoing public interest in Epstein-related records. Lawmakers, journalists and commentators continue to debate the significance of the newly released documents and the appropriateness of the president’s public language toward reporters.