President Donald Trump said he thought HuffPost had “died” after clashing with one of its reporters over Vice President JD Vance’s comments about judges not being allowed to override the executive branch.
The attempted insult came in an exchange between Trump and HuffPost reporter S.V. Dáte on Sunday on Air Force One as the president flew from Florida to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl.
In a statement on social media, Vance had said that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power” in response to courts pushing back on new Trump administration policies, notably Elon Musk’s government-slashing efforts.
Vance posted on X, “If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal.”
It was this startling view on the preeminence of the presidency, which has alarmed lawmakers, that HuffPost’s Dáte pressed the president on.
“The vice president suggested that if the Supreme Court rules in a way that you don’t like, they could just enforce it by themselves,” Dáte said. “Do you agree with that?”
“I don’t know even what you’re talking about,” Trump responded. “Neither do you. Who are you with?”
“HuffPost, sir,” Dáte said.
“Oh, no wonder,” Trump said. “I thought they, I thought they died. Are they still around? I haven’t read them in years. I thought they died.”
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In response to Trump’s comment, a HuffPost spokesperson hit back: “His loss — perhaps his biggest since 2020. Millions of Americans are tuning into HuffPost’s coverage to stay informed about the consequences of Trump’s presidency.”
Trump also attacked Time magazine last week, suggesting that he didn’t know they were “still in business” — even though he acknowledged winning the publication’s Person of the Year title in December.
The president’s remarks come amid a shake-up at the Pentagon that will see eight media organizations, including The New York Times, removed from dedicated office spaces to make room for a number of right-wing and explicitly pro-Trump media outlets. HuffPost has also been offered workspace at the Pentagon.