Donald Trump paused mid-speech at the House GOP Member Retreat on Tuesday to call out a photographer he claimed was making him “look heavy.”
The president was speaking to Republican lawmakers at the Kennedy Center, which Trump has renamed after himself, when he appeared to spot New York Times photographer Doug Mills.
Abruptly breaking off from his remarks, Trump signaled Mills in the crowd, who won a Pulitzer Prize for capturing the moment a bullet grazed Trump’s ear during an assassination attempt in 2024.
Highlights
- Donald Trump interrupted his speech to call out NYT photographer Doug Mills for making him look "heavy" and asked to be made to look thin instead.
- Trump acknowledged Mills' Pulitzer Prizes but criticized the press, calling them "fake news" while gesturing to others in the room.
- Trump predicted a likely third impeachment if Republicans fail to win the midterms, emphasizing the stakes to GOP lawmakers.
Donald Trump pointed out Doug Mills in the crowd
Image credits: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“Pulitzer Prize, right Doug? Pulitzer Prize,” Trump said, after pointing out “the fake news.”
“He got one for the bullet. He had the bullet. But he got – how many Pulitzer Prizes? Three Pulitzer Prizes and all talented guys. These are great guys.”
After gesturing to the far end of the room and saying he did not like “the people back there,” Trump once again focused his attention on Mills.
“Make me look thin for a change, Doug,” Trump said. “You’re making me look a little bit heavy. I’m not happy about it.”
It is not the first time Trump has complained about press photographers.
In October, he ranted about the TIME magazine cover celebrating a U.S.-brokered peace deal between Israel and Hamas.
On Truth Social, Trump called the cover a “super bad” picture that “disappeared” his hair and showed a “floating crown” above his head.
Image credits: David Dini/The Pulitzer Prizes
The story highlighted the work of Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
The cover image featured a low-angle photograph of Trump gazing upward into bright sunlight.
“Time Magazine wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the Worst of All Time,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an extremely small one. Really weird!”
Also during his speech on Tuesday, Trump predicted that he would likely be impeached for a third time if Republicans fail to secure a victory in the midterm elections later this year.
Trump has previously complained about press photographers
During his first term in office,Trump was impeached twice, but he was acquitted in both instances by the Republican-led Senate.
The first impeachment in 2019 stemmed from allegations that Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate the Biden family.
Trump was again impeached after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol for allegedly inciting his supporters to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win.
On Tuesday, concerns about a third impeachment were clearly on Trump’s mind as he ranted to lawmakers and made light of canceling the midterms.
“We have great, solid common-sense policy. They have horrendous policy. What they do is they stick together. They never have a no vote.”
He added, “They impeached me. I never knew I was going to be impeached. I get a phone call. You just got impeached. I said, ‘What does that mean?’”
Trump also referenced scrapping the election altogether, saying, “I won’t say cancel the election, they should cancel the election because the fake news will say, ‘He wants the elections canceled. He’s a dictator.’ They always call me a dictator.”