Trump lashes out at ‘terrible’ NBC reporter Peter Alexander over Qatar jet question during Oval Office meeting with South African president: ‘Jerk … Idiot’

Trump’s aggressive dismissal of reporter Peter Alexander substitutes ad hominem attacks for rebuttal, repeatedly calling him unintelligent and dishonest. This distracts from the legitimate question about a Qatar aircraft gift — a classic red herring. By emotionally invoking “thousands of dead” to discredit unrelated inquiries, he appeals to emotion instead of reason. Mischaracterizing the reporter’s intent as avoiding discussion of South African crime is a straw man fallacy. Phrases like “you’re such a bad reporter” and “fake news” employ biased language. Finally, Trump’s rhetorical framing (“Why are you asking that?”) presupposes malice — a loaded question tactic to delegitimize scrutiny.