'Quiet, are you sick person?': Trump berates journalist
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump had a heated exchange with The Independent reporter Andrew Feinberg in the Oval Office on Tuesday. The incident occurred during an event where Trump and Vice President JD Vance discussed a new whistleblower program that offers rewards of up to $30,000 for reporting alleged fraud. Feinberg had questioned the need for such a program when existing laws already allow whistleblowers to receive a percentage of recovered funds.
Twitter Post
Video from Oval office
Trump: "Quiet! Quiet! What's wrong with you? Are you a sick person?
— Jamison Daniel (@AntiquarianMuse) October 20, 2026
Reporter: Not that I know of Trump: I actually think there's something wrong with you." pic.twitter.com/dZcJo33X8y
Heated exchange
'Quiet, quiet'
In response to Feinberg's question, Trump replied, "Because it's a lot of money."
When Feinberg tried to ask about changes to East Potomac Park, Trump interrupted him, saying, "Quiet, quiet."
He then asked the reporter, "What's wrong with you? Are you a sick person?" to which Feinberg replied, "Not that I know of, sir."
Vance intervened during this exchange and called Feinberg's question "dishonest," claiming some types of fraud were not covered by the False Claims Act.
Unanswered question
Vance posts clip of exchange, calls Feinberg 'imbecile'
After a little while, Trump asked the journalist, "Who are you?" despite Feinberg introducing himself earlier
The Vice President later took a dig at the journalist on X (formerly Twitter), posting a clip of their exchange and writing: "President Donald J Trump eviscerates imbecile 'journalist' Andrew Feinberg for misbehaving in the Oval Office."
To Vance's post, Feinberg replied, "If you're going to insult me at least have the guts to tag my account."