President Donald Trump on Tuesday called MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner “a dumb person” for accurately pointing out that the cost of his ballroom had doubled since it was first announced.
The exchange occurred while Trump was speaking with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday afternoon before he left for China for several days of events and meetings.
“You wanted [Federal Reserve Chair] Jerome Powell fired for cost overruns,” Gardner pointed out to Trump, referring to the Fed’s ongoing renovation project of its Washington headquarters. “How is that different than your ballroom and the reflecting pool?”
“What happened is that we have a ballroom that’s under budget,” Trump replied. “It’s going up right here. I’ve doubled the size of it because we obviously need that, and we’re right now on budget, under budget, and ahead of schedule.”
“The price has doubled,” Gardner pointed out.
The price of the ballroom has doubled from $200 million when it was first announced last summer to $400 million. Congressional Republicans have also proposed more than $220 million to go toward security features for the ballroom as part of their reconciliation package, according to a memo obtained by MS NOW that breaks down the funding.
“I doubled the size of it, you dumb person,” Trump replied. “I doubled the size.”
“What about the reflecting pool?” Gardner asked, referring to the cost of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation snowballing from $1.8 million to more than $13 million.
“You are not a smart person,” Trump responded.
It’s the latest in a string of attacks the president has launched at female journalists.
Earlier this month, Trump called ABC News’ Rachel Scott a “horror show” after she asked why he is focused on renovation projects while gas prices soar as a result of the war in Iran.
“It’s such a stupid question that you asked,” he said, adding, “You can understand dirt maybe better than I can.”
In December, Trump called Scott “obnoxious” and “terrible.” And on the campaign trail in 2024, during a panel interview with Trump that Scott was co-moderating, Trump called ABC “fake news” and accused Scott of giving him “a very rude introduction.”
Last month, Trump called Jessica Tarlov of Fox News “one of the Least Attractive and Talented People on all of Television” in a Truth Social post.
In November, he launched a host of attacks on women reporters: He said “Quiet, piggy” to a Bloomberg reporter after she asked him about the release of the Epstein files; he called a New York Times reporter “ugly, both inside and out”; he said an ABC reporter was “terrible” and “insubordinate”; and he questioned whether a CBS reporter was “a stupid person.”
He has also repeatedly attacked Kaitlan Collins of CNN, calling her “stupid and nasty” and accusing her of “not smiling” after she also asked about the Epstein files.
Laura Barrón-López and Mychael Schnell contributed reporting.
The post Trump calls MS NOW reporter ‘dumb’ for pointing out ballooning ballroom cost appeared first on MS NOW.
