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Former President Donald Trump appeared to get his fill of an NBC News reporter in recent days, according to audio obtained by Vanity Fair.
According to the audio, Trump allegedly seized an NBC reporter’s phone and demanded his removal from his aircraft after being questioned about the criminal investigation by Manhattan DA Alvin Brag during an informal press gathering, Fox News reported, citing Vanity Fair.
The outlet noted that the tense altercation took place on March 25, after Trump’s campaign rally in Waco, Texas. While aboard his plane, Trump Force One, the 2024 Republican frontrunner engaged in a conversation with a group of journalists, including NBC News reporter Vaughn Hillyard.
When Hillyard remarked that Trump appeared “frustrated” by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s criminal investigation, it appeared to trigger the former president, who confiscated the reporter’s phone and demanded that he stop asking any further questions.
“I’m not frustrated by anything,” Trump said in response, according to a recording obtained by the Washington Post.
“What am I, frustrated? I just did a speech for two hours. I’m not frustrated by it. It’s a fake investigation. We did nothing wrong. I told you that. … It’s the exact opposite. This is fake news, and NBC is one of the worst at it. Don’t ask me any more questions,” he continued.
“I heard you’re a nice guy from NBC, but you’re not,” Trump added.
The reports noted that almost a half-hour passed before Hillyard tried to ask another question, and it was related to Bragg’s case.
“I don’t want to talk to you. You’re not a nice guy,” Trump said.
As the NBC correspondent continued to ask his question, “a frustrated Trump reportedly grabbed the reporter’s two phones from the table in front of him and tossed them to the side, a source familiar with the matter told Vanity Fair,” Fox News reported.
Trump can also be heard on the audio demanding to aides: “Get him out of here.”
“Let’s go, get him out of here. Out of here. Out of here,” he said.
Reportedly, the journalists were subsequently escorted away from the scene, according to the Washington Post. It is unclear if Hillyard was among them, but Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, stated to the outlet that “no negative incidents” involving journalists had occurred aboard the former president’s plane.
The reported incident happened several days before the ex-president was charged, arraigned, and accused of tampering with business records linked to payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, in New York City. As the top Republican contender for the 2024 presidential election, Trump has referred to the inquiry as “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”
Meanwhile, a former Manhattan prosecutor pointed out this week that the judge appointed to oversee District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s 34-count indictment against Donald Trump should not have been given the case because of his history in dealing with the former president.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was assigned to oversee the hush-money prosecution of Trump due to his prior experience presiding over litigation involving Trump and his company. However, this history could potentially complicate the proceedings and expose Merchan to further attacks from Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Merchan was chosen by the court’s administrative judge to oversee complex grand jury investigations into Trump and his businesses over the past two years, which led to his subsequent assignments to cases related to the investigations. Merchan is a 14-year veteran of Manhattan’s criminal trial court.
“Since 2021, the judge has held the Trump Organization in contempt for failing to turn over documents in one probe by the Manhattan district attorney’s office; presided over a trial in which a jury convicted the company of tax fraud; and sentenced former company finance chief Allen Weisselberg to jail for tax and other offenses,” the WSJ reported further.
The Trump Organization has filed an appeal following the tax fraud conviction. Christopher Brennan, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney, said that if a higher court were to reverse Merchan’s decision on the tax-fraud conviction, it could raise concerns about his impartiality in the current criminal case against Trump.
“There was not a random selection of a judge in this case, and there should have been,” Brennan told the paper. “He actually should be the last person selected, given the potential conflict.”
