President Donald Trump on Tuesday called MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner “a dumb person” for accurately pointing out that the cost of his ballroom had doubled since it was first announced.

The exchange occurred while Trump was speaking with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday afternoon before he left for China for several days of events and meetings.

“You wanted [Federal Reserve Chair] Jerome Powell fired for cost overruns,” Gardner pointed out to Trump, referring to the Fed’s ongoing renovation project of its Washington headquarters. “How is that different than your ballroom and the reflecting pool?”

“What happened is that we have a ballroom that’s under budget,” Trump replied. “It’s going up right here. I’ve doubled the size of it because we obviously need that, and we’re right now on budget, under budget, and ahead of schedule.”

“The price has doubled,” Gardner pointed out.

The price of the ballroom has doubled from $200 million when it was first announced last summer to $400 million. Congressional Republicans have also proposed more than $220 million to go toward security features for the ballroom as part of their reconciliation package, according to a memo obtained by MS NOW that breaks down the funding.

“I doubled the size of it, you dumb person,” Trump replied. “I doubled the size.”

“What about the reflecting pool?” Gardner asked, referring to the cost of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation snowballing from $1.8 million to more than $13 million.

“You are not a smart person,” Trump responded.

It’s the latest in a string of attacks the president has launched at female journalists.

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Julianne McShane

Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.