Donald Trump Rages at Reporter Over Fundraising Email: 'Nobody Is Better to the Military Than Me'

In a heated confrontation aboard Air Force One on Sunday, March 15, President Donald Trump defended a controversial fundraising email featuring a photo of him at a dignified transfer ceremony for six service members killed in the war with Iran.

When questioned by ABC News reporter Rachel Scott about the appropriateness of the email, Trump initially stated he thought it was appropriate before lashing out at the network, calling it "corrupt," "fake," and "terrible.”

When Scott started to ask the president, “Do you think it’s an appropriate email to send —,” he interrupted her and said, “I do.”

Scott then pushed further, adding, “Your critics are saying you’re fundraising off—,” which made the POTUS snap.

“I didn’t see it. I mean, somebody puts it out. We have a lot of people working for us,” he started. “But there’s nobody that’s better to the military than me. And all you have to do is look at the election. Look at the election results. Look at kind of votes that we get. Look at all the numbers. There’s nobody who’s ever been higher as a president than me with the military.”

He then asked her, “Who are you with?”

When she replied ABC, the petulant POTUS replied, “Wor—one of the worst, most fake, most corrupt —"

Scott asked him if he would comment about the dead soldiers, but he chose to continue his attack on her employer.

“You know what, ABC News, I think it’s maybe the most corrupt news organizations on the planet. I think they’re terrible,” he said of the network he sued for defamation in 2024 over anchor George Stephanopoulos' interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).

ABC settled the case for $15 million.

Offering Trump one more opportunity to comment on the soldiers, Scott asked again, but Trump shut her down, saying, “Okay, I don’t want any more from ABC.”

This isn't the first time the president lashed out at Scott.

During a December 2025 White House roundtable on farm aid, Trump called Scott the "most obnoxious reporter in the whole place" and a "terrible reporter" after Scott pressed him on whether he would release full video footage of a controversial September 2nd military strike off the coast of Venezuela.

The email, sent by the PAC Never Surrender Inc., featured an official White House photo of Trump saluting at Dover Air Force Base during the March 7 ritual for six Army Reservists killed by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait.

The photo showed Trump wearing a white "USA" campaign-style baseball cap (sold for $55 on his website) during the solemn ceremony, which critics argued violated military protocol for the event.

It solicited donations of up to $1,000 or more and promised supporters access to "private national security briefings.”

The use of the ceremony's imagery for fundraising drew condemnation from various political figures, who described it as exploiting military sacrifice for political gain.

Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, a former naval officer, called Trump “unfit to be commander-in-chief,” accusing the administration of treating war like a “video game,” and Republican voices such as former Congressman Denver Riggleman called the email “vile” and blasted the use of the soldiers’ deaths for fundraising purposes.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called Trump a "deeply SICK and DISGUSTING MAN," accusing him of "fundraising off of dead soldiers."

Naveed Shah, political director for the veterans advocacy group Common Defense, stated there was "not a shred of dignity to be found anywhere in this administration," criticizing the use of the ceremony for political gain.