Recent recordings indicate that, in response to a query about the criminal investigation posed by Manhattan DA Alvin Brag during an unofficial press gathering, former President Donald Trump grabbed an NBC reporter’s phone and demanded that he be removed from his aircraft.
The argumentative discussion, which was made public for the first time by Vanity Fair on March 25 in Waco, Texas, followed Trump’s campaign speech. Reporter for NBC News Vaughn Hillyard remarked that the leading Republican candidate for 2024 appeared “frustrated” by Bragg’s investigation while the candidate was speaking with a group of reporters aboard his aircraft. Trump appeared to be angered by the question because he instructed the reporter to refrain from asking “any more questions.”
“I’m not frustrated by anything,” Trump replied, 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 said.
“I heard you’re a nice guy from NBC, but you’re not,” Trump later added.
After more than 30 minutes had elapsed, Hillyard allegedly attempted to ask Trump another query regarding Bragg’s inquiry.
“I don’t want to talk to you. You’re not a nice guy,” Trump said.
A source told Vanity Fair that when Hillyard continued to pose his question, an enraged Trump snatched the reporter’s two phones from the table in front of him and tossed them to the side.
In the audio clip that was obtained, Trump is heard directing his staff to “Get him out of here.”
“Let’s go, get him out of here. Out of here. Out of here,” he said.
The journalists were then reportedly lead away, as reported by the Washington Post. Hillyard may have been removed from Trump’s aircraft, but Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung assured the publication that there have been “no negative incidents” involving journalists on his aircraft.
A correspondent for NBC alleges that former president Donald Trump confiscated his phone and ordered him to deplane.
The conversation occurred a few days before the former president was charged with falsifying financial records related to payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 and subsequently appeared in court in New York City.
Trump, the leading Republican candidate for president in 2024, has described the investigation as “political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history.”