Trump hits back reporter's 'evil' question about Texas flood warnings

Donald Trump has been widely criticised for branding a reporter "evil" for her question about the Texas floods, where the president was asked if he had anything to say to the "upset" affected families.

He, alongside first lady Melania Trump, visited Texas this week to survey the damage caused by the devastating flash flooding, as scrutiny increased over the local and federal response to the disaster.

At least 121 people have been killed, 96 of those in Kerr County - including a number of children at Camp Mystic, a nearby Christian summer camp - due to heavy rainfall last week that caused the Guadalupe River to rise to 26 feet.

Meanwhile, over 170 people remain missing as search efforts continue on the ground by 2,100 responders from various agencies at the local, state and federal levels.

"The first lady and I are here in Texas to express the love and support and the anguish of our entire nation in the aftermath of this really horrific and deadly flood," Trump said at the roundtable event alongside first responders and local officials.

  President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott participate in a round table event at the Hill Country Youth Event Center to discuss last week's flash flooding on July 11, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Trump traveled to Texas one week after flash flooding along the Guadalupe River swept through cities, mobile home parks and summer camps, killing 120 people. Ninety-six of those killed were in Kerr County, where the toll includes at least 36 children.Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

"We mourn for every single life that was swept away in the flood, and we pray for the families that are left behind," the president added. "It's amazing, the incredible spirit from those families."

But already, there are questions around how quickly local officials responded to the intense weather conditions and when exactly residents were alerted.

During the roundtable talk, Trump took a question from a reporter who explained how affected families are upset due to the flood warnings not going out in time and asked the president if he had anything to say to them.

"Well, I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances. I just have admiration for the job that everybody did. There's just admiration," Trump said, referring to the floods as a "one in a thousand years" event.

(Although meteorologist Cary Burgess told Newsweek that while flooding like this "doesn't happen often," large-scale ones "have occurred at least four times in the last 50 years.")

Then the president didn't hold back in his criticism of the reporter for her question, as he continued, "Only a bad person would ask a question like that. Only an evil person would ask a question like that."

The exchange has prompted a lot of criticism on social media, from people who say Trump is a "petulant schmuck" with "zero empathy."

Jennifer Holdsworth, a Democratic strategist, wrote: "I'm just so very tired of the President of the United States being an infantile, petulant schmuck."

"Zero empathy. One of the main characteristics of NPD," said Alastair Campbell, former director of communications to ex-Labour prime minister Tony Blair and The Rest Is Politics podcast co-host.

Mehdi Hasan, Zeteo editor-in-chief and CEO, responded, "Put aside his inability to take any criticism, remember his hypocrisy - he used every possible disaster and tragedy to score points against Biden."

Tommy Vietor, former Obama NSC staff and Pod Save America co-host, shared, "The families of the people killed in this flood are asking these questions. Trump calling those questioners 'evil' is so f***ed up."

"Completely normal response," one person said.

A second person wrote, "Insulting the questioner instead of answering the question indicates that there is no good answer. When Trump refuses to answer, every subsequent questioner should just keep repeating it."

"The defining feature of Trumpworld is zero accountability," a third person added.

Elsewhere, The 20 most stupid things Donald Trump has ever said, and MAGA supporter regrets asking who 'gives a f***' about Epstein files.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.