What To Know
- Fox News anchor Bret Baier defended correspondent Jonathan Hunt after Donald Trump criticized Hunt as a “flunky.”
- Baier addressed the president on air and emphasized that Hunt is a “great reporter.”
- Trump recently attacked fellow Fox News hosts Shannon Bream and Jessica Tarlov.
Fox News anchor Bret Baier fired back at Donald Trump on Thursday evening (August 27) after the president criticized the network’s chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt as a “flunky.”
Trump took issue with a segment that aired on Thursday’s Special Report, in which Hunt said there were “no significant developments” in bringing the Iran war to an end. Hunt referenced the president’s own comments about how no talks were happening between the U.S. and Iran.
“We’re not looking to meet or anything,” Trump told reporters earlier in the day, a clip of which aired on Special Report.
The president must have been watching the show, because soon after the segment aired, he took to Truth Social to slam Hunt. He wrote, “Jonathan Hunt of FoxNews did a particularly inaccurate report on the Failing Islamic Republic of Iran. I don’t want to meet, they do. In fact, they are begging to make a deal.”
Trump concluded his post saying, “Bret Baier should straighten out his flunkies, for a change! President DJT.”
Baier addressed the president’s comments later in the program, which airs live. The longtime news anchor said Hunt never claimed that Trump wanted to meet with Iran and also defended his Fox News colleague as a “great reporter.”
TRUTH SOCIAL REACTION: “First of all, Mr. President, we didn’t say you wanted to meet. In fact we played a soundbite you didn’t want to meet and there are negotiations. We said that Treasury Secretary Bessent is hoping to meet with G-20 countries to increase the pressure on… pic.twitter.com/7RxHoHlLJJ
— Special Report (@SpecialReport) August 27, 2026
“First of all, Jonathan Hunt’s not a flunky. He’s a great reporter,” Baier stated. “Second of all, Mr. President, we didn’t say you wanted to meet. In fact, we played a soundbite that you didn’t want to meet and there are no negotiations.”
He continued, “We said that Treasury Secretary Bessent is hoping to meet with G-20 countries to increase the pressure on Iran, and Gulf State allies, including Qatar, are inside Tehran trying to get Iran to agree to concessions. That was what was said.”
While Trump has made it known that Fox News is his network of choice, he’s not above criticizing its hosts. Earlier this month, he insulted host Shannon Bream after she grilled attorney general Todd Blanche over the ongoing building of the White House ballroom.
“Watching FoxNews with Shannon Bream is always like watching the Worst of Fake News CNN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I don’t know Shannon, but she always seems to pick guests, charts, and “polls” that are negative, never talking about all of the incredible things that the Trump Administration has done.”
He also frequently attacks The Five‘s Jessica Tarlov, at one point demanding that Fox executives take her “off the air.” Trump added, “She is, from her voice, to her lies, and everything else about her, one of the worst ‘personalities’ on television, a real loser! People cannot stand watching her.”
Special Report with Bret Baier, Weekdays, 6/5 c, Fox News
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