Trump whines about ‘absolutely terrible’ Fox News White House correspondent, says she should work for CNN

A couple hours after journalist Jacqui Heinrich pointed out that one of Donald Trump’s favorite Fox News legal experts believed the law wasn’t entirely on his side regarding deportation flights, the president railed against the Fox News White House correspondent on social media.

“I watched Jacqui Heinrich from Fox over the weekend and I thought she was absolutely terrible. She should be working for CNN, not Fox,” Trump groused on Truth Social. “Not surprisingly, I later found out that she’s a fan of the White House Correspondents Association!”

The president, who has stocked his administration with at least 20 former Fox News personalities and employees, seemed to be referring to Heinrich’s turn as Fox News Sunday host this past weekend as the trigger for his demanding that she head over to CNN rather than the right-wing cable news network.

Filling in for regular anchor Shannon Bream this past Sunday, Heinrich may have drawn the president’s ire for grilling Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) over Trump’s recent White House infomercial for Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla outside the White House, complete with the president vowing to purchase one himself.

“There was basically a display at the White House there. He surveyed some cars. It was happening as, you know, [while] Americans’ 401(k) accounts were facing some struggles because of this tariff war happening right now,” she noted.

“Was that an appropriate thing for the president to do there? Was it sensitive to the moment that we are in buying a car, using the White House as a backdrop for that?” Heinrich asked.

The president may have also been spurred to rage at Heinrich just four days after her hosting gig due to her pointed questions during Wednesday’s White House press briefing, during which she grilled press secretary Karolline Leavitt about the battle between the administration and a federal judge who blocked Trump’s deportation flights under Alien Enemies Act.

Notably, Heinrich brought up Fox News’ own legal analyst Andy McCarthy — whom Trump approvingly cited multiple times during his New York hush money trial — stating recently that he’s “not sure that the law is completely on his side” even though he personally agrees with what the president is doing with the deportations.

“He raised concern also that while [Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua] has been designated as a terrorist organization, these individuals hadn’t been prosecuted for terrorism,” Heinrich added.

“So my question is: Will the president ask Congress potentially to declare war on these cartels for the invasion that he’s talked about so that he’s on stronger legal footing?” she asked.

Leavitt fired back: “We absolutely disagree with the legal opinion of the individual that you mentioned,” and that “anybody trying to defend these terrorists who have now been sent off of American soil should talk to the families of the individuals who these heinous monsters have killed and have raped.”

During his social media tirade against Heinrich, the president also noted that she’s a “fan” of the White House Correspondent’s Association, the group of reporters that his administration has essentially seized power from in recent weeks. Heinrich is not only a fan of the organization; she is a WHCA board member who slammed the White House last month over its new press access rules.

Having long had a love-hate relationship with Fox News and its owner Rupert Murdoch, Trump has regularly singled out hosts and commentators at the network he feels are insufficiently loyal to him and his MAGA movement.

Heinrich has faced intense criticism from Trump supporters for years now — even from within her own network.

Prior to Fox News settling with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million over the network’s amplification of Trump’s 2020 election lies, discovery in the case revealed text messages and emails from Fox stars Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity demanding Heinrich be fired for fact-checking Trump’s baseless election fraud claims.

The Independent has reached out to Fox News for comment.