Trump shows the world what a ‘stupid, bad-tempered and cornered’ man looks like
Donald Trump threw a strop during a TV interview and walked out, on the same weekend the ceasefire between Iran and Israel collapsed. Was he angry at being questioned, or that his war efforts had failed so badly?
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What’s the story?
"Your elections are crooked, and you're crooked," said Donald Trump as he lost his patience during a TV interview with NBC presenter Kristen Welker.
"Let's call it quits, because I've had enough. Thank you, darling."
Her big mistake? Asking him for evidence that he won the 2020 election, a lie to which he still bitterly clings six years later.
"It just shows what a stupid, bad-tempered, cornered man looks like," says Emily Maitlis.
"There's nothing left there. You're not under any illusions that he's winning that fight.
"You are completely convinced that he is feeling threatened by her questions, he doesn't have answers, and he hasn't got anything left in his arsenal, except for insults."
WOW -- Trump crashes out and cuts his interview with Welker short as she presses him on his lack of evidence for claiming elections are rigged
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 7, 2026
"You're either crooked or you're stupid. Let's call it quits. Because I've had enough. Thank you darling," he tells her."
"I traveled… pic.twitter.com/qQaNIDnX4y
In previous confrontations with reporters – always female reporters – he has told them to be "quiet piggy", or "you don't get it" or "you're so dumb, you're so fake", Emily adds.
Jon Sopel says the MAGA president's fury was clear, even without his words.
"So often Donald Trump is just a pure orange colour, because he's got so much makeup on, but here he looks red, he looks angry," Jon says.
"He's not getting across what he wants to get across, people aren't saying: "Donald Trump, you're winning'.
"You just feel power slipping from his grasp, and the fury going with that."
But, The News Agents say, he's got a lot more to be angry about than a civilised round of questioning from an experienced journalist. He's got a much bigger problem on his mind.
Is Iran the real reason for Trump's fury?
This weekend, the short-lived ceasefire, which began on 8 April, between Iran and Israel ended.
Trump proudly named it Operation Epic Fury, and promised America – and the world – it would be a short, sharp military incursion to bring down the Iranian regime, curtail its military and end its nuclear enrichment programme.
After all, at the time he had just done precisely that in Venezuela.
More than 100 days later, and war still rages.
Jon Sopel says it will go down in history as "one of the greatest strategic failures in modern warfare."
"The United States kidded themselves that they could achieve this militarily, and it would all be done so quickly, and nothing like that has happened," he says.
"The regime is in place, Israel and the US have fired endless missiles, have committed millions of dollars to this campaign, and they haven't succeeded."
And what's worse, for Trump personally, is his total lack of control over the ongoing situation.
"Trump has tried to knock heads together, he has said he holds the cards, he calls all the shots," says Emily.
"What has become very apparent, if it weren't before, is that he cannot control what Iran does, and he cannot control what Netanyahu does."
How Trump failed the American people
It was one of Trump's big promises when he campaigned for the 2024 US election. No new wars, no more forever wars. Two years later, and he's stuck in a hugely costly war he no longer has any control over.
"He cannot see a way out of it. He cannot see the exit," Jon says.
"He wants Iran to sign a deal, which will mean that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, that they hand over all their nuclear material. Why is Iran going to do that?"
The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where around 20% of the world's oil once passed, has caused huge economic turmoil worldwide, including the US.
Iran, Jon adds, is struggling like almost every other country in the world, but its rulers are focused only on “self preservation”
"It's a dreadful regime, and survival is everything, and at the moment, you would have to say it is surviving, and it is costing Donald Trump," says Jon.
"Trump seems utterly powerless, or in a position where the limits of American power have been reached."
Emily describes Trump, and Benjamin Netanyahu as “probably two of the most despised leaders in the world right now”, leading to an almost total lack of support around the globe for the position of either in the conflict with Iran, despite there being very little support for the regime there either.
"The other part of Donald Trump's promise to the United States of America was that he would bring down prices, and make America affordable after Joe Biden," Jon adds.
"What has happened in this war has sent prices spiralling."
America was becoming more affordable towards the end of Joe Biden’s single term as president, with Trump having now undone the work his administration put in place to ease the cost of living for Americans.
Trump's big gift to the Iranian regime
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is the significant change in Iran since Operation Epic Fury began, other than the countless lives lost in Iran in the conflict.
It had never been fully closed before 2026, and was only shut down due to Trump and Netanyahu's military action.
"The irony of all this is that Donald Trump went into this to destroy Iran's nuclear capability, their nuclear enrichment program, and what he's clearly given them is a much better alternative to a nuclear weapon," says Emily.
"Closing the Strait of Hormuz is their economic nuclear weapon.
"He came in looking for one, and they've invented a completely different one, which costs a fraction of the price, which has all the power and none of the relatable deaths, and they're just using it against him."