Fact Check: Trump Denies On-Camera Promise To Release Sept. 2 Strike Video

President Donald Trump on Monday denied making an on-camera statement he had uttered five days earlier about releasing additional video of a Sept. 2 U.S. strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat — then launched a personal attack at the reporter who accurately repeated his prior remark.

The dispute centers on footage from U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean on Sept. 2. The Trump administration publicly released video of the initial strike but has not released a second video showing a follow-up strike that reportedly killed people who survived the first attack. That follow-up footage has been shown to members of Congress behind closed doors.

On Dec. 3, Trump told ABC News reporter Selina Wang that he would have no problem releasing any additional footage. In that exchange, Wang asked whether the extra footage would be released so Americans could "see for themselves what happened," and Trump replied, "I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have we’d certainly release, no problem."

Wang: "Will you release video of that strike so that the American people can see for themselves what happened?"

Trump: "I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have we’d certainly release, no problem."

On Monday, ABC reporter Rachel Scott repeated that Dec. 3 comment while pressing the president about whether the follow-up video would be disclosed. Trump denied saying it and accused the network of reporting falsely.

Scott: "Mr. President, you said you would have no problem with releasing the full video of that strike on September 2nd off the coast of Venezuela."

Trump: "I didn’t say that. That’s — you said that, I didn’t say that. This is ABC fake news."

Scott and other journalists, including ABC's Jonathan Karl, said she quoted the president accurately. CNN sought comment from an ABC News spokesperson about the exchange.

During the same interaction, Trump defended the strikes and repeated a frequently made but unverified claim that each boat destroyed prevents "25,000 American lives" from being harmed. He also characterized the survivors as attempting to make the boat seaworthy again and said the vessel was "loaded up with drugs." When Scott tried to return to the question of releasing the footage, the president called her "the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place" and "actually a terrible reporter."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the question of releasing the follow-up video is under review. The episode highlights continuing tensions between the White House and the press over transparency and factual accuracy in public statements.