On Monday, a question about French rioting got Donald Trump’s quickest reversal in a while. He waved it off as fake news, heard the outlet’s name, and started praising it.
Trump was taking questions before leaving the White House for a Kansas rally for Sen. Roger Marshall when The Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan asked whether Emmanuel Macron was “blaming the Iran war and you essentially for the rioting in France.” Trump cut in with “I think that’s fake news. Who are you with?” She answered with her name and her outlet, and his tone changed. “Oh, Daily Wire’s good. Sorry, Daily Wire’s good.”
Q: Macron is blaming the Iran war and you for the rioting in France–
TRUMP: That’s fake news. Who are you with?
Q: No, sir. Mary Margaret with the Daily Wire
TRUMP: Oh, the Daily Wire is good. Sorry. Daily Wire is good. https://t.co/NsauCmI4Tg
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 19, 2026
The question warranted closer scrutiny, particularly because it had not emerged entirely out of thin air. France had experienced weekend protests over the cost of living and school conditions, prompting Macron to address the country on Sunday.
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In his remarks, he said, “These demonstrators expressed concern about the cost of living and the price of fuel.” The quoted passage made no mention of Trump, suggesting Olohan was referring to Macron’s speech rather than an explicit reference to the president.
That makes Trump’s initial suspicion somewhat understandable, but his follow up reaction is much harder to justify. The president’s doubt rested on what Macron said, and the apology rested on who was asking. Mediaite noted that it is unclear which Macron statement Olohan had in mind, and that Times of India reporting suggests the voice in at least one video of him is AI-generated.
Critics skipped the nuance. An independent journalist posting as @kirikaar wrote that “he just calls it fake news instead of answering.”
😂🇺🇸 Trump called the question “fake news” before even hearing which outlet the reporter represented. The moment she said The Daily Wire, suddenly the outlet was “good.” At this point, it looks like if he doesn’t like the question, he just calls it fake news instead of answering https://t.co/nI2Fiig4M2
— Kirikaar (@Kirikaar77) October 19, 2026
Others on X pointed to how fast the reversal happened, and The Daily Wire’s right-leaning lineage, as co-founded by Ben Shapiro, gave them plenty to work with.
@KassyAkiva This video is a perfect encapsulation of right wing medias relationship with Trump and his with them. Everything’s a nasty question unless it’s from a right wing outlet, and everything Trump does is funny and based and “owns the libs”. The daily wire is garbage.
— Kip (@SparksTheElder) October 19, 2026
@HQNewsNow The daily wire routinely publish fake news, has poor circulation, and is failing completely. Of course Trump loves them
— FistFullofFace (@FistFullofFacee) October 20, 2026
@atrupar This would honestly embarrass me if I was a reporter for the daily wire
— Jeremy F. Berke (@jfberke) October 19, 2026
@atrupar He’s a fraud
— Judge E Smails (@CaiforniaNewt) October 19, 2026
The exchange came after a more consequential question about Ukraine’s Starshield connection, the military grade version of Starlink.
Moments earlier, a reporter had asked who ordered the interruption of the service, and Trump replied, “I don’t know.” Reuters reported the previous week that the order came from the White House, while a senior official told the agency it “did not come from Trump.”
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) warned on X that whoever restricted Ukraine’s access would face “hearings and budget cuts.” The warning was particularly notable because it came from within Trump’s own party, on the same day the president said he did not know who had authorized the move.
I will be speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team this week to discuss Starshield, sanctions, and other matters pertaining to the defense of our strong ally, Ukraine. I will be assuring President Zelenskyy that anyone who attempts to limit the use of Starshield for Ukraine will be fully investigated and will be held fully accountable, to include public congressional oversight hearings, and immediate harsh and punitive budget cuts to any responsible agency or agency head.
Congress will unequivocally reaffirm that Ukraine is an indispensable ally to the United States, that Russia is a self-declared enemy of the United States, and that the United States will 100% support and defend the people of Ukraine in their fight for their own freedom against this brutal, illegal, and unprovoked Russian invasion.
The United States must provide any and all defensive equipment that Ukraine needs to defend itself. The United States must not import a single drop of Russian oil. Sanctions against the Russian regime must be harsher and stronger than they’ve ever been before. Each and every one of these items will be brought to the House Floor—and each and every one of these items will pass on the House Floor by an overwhelming margin.
This is, after all, what Ronald Reagan would do. And this is what we will do now. Ukraine can, and will, defeat Russia. #PeaceThroughStrength
— Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick 🇺🇸 (@RepBrianFitz) October 19, 2026
Featured image via X screengrab