🚨 JUST IN: The administration addresses public reaction after Donald Trump refers to a female journalist in a way that sparked debate ⚡.NH

The White House is doubling down in support of Donald Trump after he attacked a female reporter’s appearance because she co-wrote a story about his “signs of fatigue” as a 79-year-old president.

On Wednesday, Nov. 26, the president, 79, took to his social media platform Truth Social  to rant about a story that New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers worked on, about the role his age is playing in his second presidential term.

Her piece suggested that Trump was slowing down and traveling less domestically, chalking it up to the “realities of aging in office.”

In a bitter response, Trump targeted Rogers by name, saying, “The writer of the story, Katie Rogers, who is assigned to write only bad things about me, is a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson addressed his heated message in a statement to PEOPLE, saying, “President Trump has never been politically correct, never holds back, and in large part, the American people re-elected him for his transparency.”

“This has nothing to do with gender,” Jackson insisted, adding, “it has everything to do with the fact that the President’s and the public’s trust in the media is at all time lows.”
President Donald Trump speaks before the turkey pardon ceremony on Nov. 25, 2025.

President Donald Trump attacked New York Times reporter Katie Rogers for writing a story about his ‘aging’.

Trump’s Wednesday morning rant also slammed The New York Times as a whole, referring to the newspaper as a “cheap ‘RAG,’ ” and declaring that it was “truly an ‘ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.’ “

“The Creeps at the Failing New York Times are at it again,” he wrote in the lengthy post, before touting many of the issues he has worked to solve as president.

“To do this requires a lot of Work and Energy, and I have never worked so hard in my life,” he continued. “Yet despite all of this the Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold New York Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite. They know this is wrong, as is almost every thing that they write about me, including election results, ALL PURPOSELY NEGATIVE.”

His Truth Social post also touted that he underwent a cognitive assessment that’s often used to screen for dementia, saying, “There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone, but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (“That was aced”) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now! GOD BLESS AMERICA & MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

Rogers’ story, which was written in collaboration with fellow NYT journalist Dylan Freedman, referenced moments where the president has seemingly displayed his age since returning to the Oval Office.

In particular, the journalist highlighted one moment where Trump appeared to fall asleep during an official meeting. The president denied the allegation, insisting he was “not a sleeper.” Rogers also referenced times when he has been seen with a noticeable bruise on his hand, which raised questions about the politician’s health.

A spokesperson for The New York Times responded to the president’s rant in a statement shared with PEOPLE, saying, “The Times‘s reporting is accurate and built on first hand reporting of the facts. Name-calling and personal insults don’t change that, nor will our journalists hesitate to cover this administration in the face of intimidation tactics like this.”

“Expert and thorough reporters like Katie Rogers exemplify how an independent and free press helps the American people better understand their government and its leaders,” the statement concluded.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

This is not the first time that the White House has defended Trump after he made disparaging remarks about female journalists this month.

Less than two weeks ago, he snapped, “Quiet. Quiet, Piggy” at Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey on Air Force One. His Nov. 14 outburst came after she questioned him about the Epstein files.

A spokesperson for the White House suggested to PEOPLE that Lucey “behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane,” adding, “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.”President Donald Trump on the White House South Lawn on Nov. 22, 2025.

President Donald Trump speaks before the turkey pardon ceremony on Nov. 25, 2025.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also defended his “piggy” remark during a Thursday, Nov. 20, press briefing.

“Look, the president is very frank & honest with everyone in this room,” she told reporters. “You’ve all seen it yourselves. You’ve all experienced it yourselves. And I think it’s one of the many reasons the American people reelected this president, because of his frankness.”

“He calls out fake news when he sees it,” Leavitt, 28, continued. “He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him, when you spread fake news about him and his administration.”

“And so I think the president being frank and open and honest to your faces, rather than hiding behind your backs, is frankly a lot more respectful than what you saw in the last administration, where you had a president who would lie to your face and then didn’t speak to you for weeks,” she added, saying, “I think everyone in this room should appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get from President Trump on a near-daily basis.”

President Donald Trump on the White House South Lawn on Nov. 22, 2025.