Former President Donald Trump can go from jovial to ranting in the blink of an eye, and apparently, as he was flying with a gaggle of reporters following a campaign rally in Waco, Texas in March that’s exactly what he did. Because one reporter’s question got him all out of sorts. NBC reporter Vaughn Hillyard remarked that over the past few days, Trump seemed “frustrated” by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. This, of course, meant Trump was frustrated all over again.

“Don’t ask me anymore questions,” he snapped.

Hillyard was undeterred and he continued his line of questioning, and after about 10 minutes of this, Trump hit the boiling point, grabbed Vaughn’s two phones, and chucked them to the side, said one source familiar with the situation, Vanity Fair reports. “Get him out of here,” Trump told his aides, which could be heard on a recording obtained by Vanity Fair.

This happened just days before Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury for his alleged role in hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels. And some of Trump’s comments on the plane have already been reported on, such as when he attacked Bragg’s investigation as a “fake probe” that they’ve “already dropped.” And The Guardian also noted Trump’s attack on Hillyard when the journalist asked if he was frustrated by the situation. He denied this, insisting “We did nothing wrong,” and complaining “This is fake news, and NBC is one of the worst. Don’t ask me any more questions.”

Hillyard also noted Trump avoided specifics, and once again called the press “fake news.” But up until now, Trump’s phone-tossing temper tantrum hadn’t been reported. Hillyard hadn’t commented on that at the time.

Axios is reporting that Trump’s 2024 campaign seems to be running a tighter ship than his previous campaigns and includes political operatives with plenty of experience under their collective belts. But as we can see from Trump’s outburst, he still regards the press as his enemy. He infamously raged at reporters while he was in office, yelling about “fake news” and in so doing, turning the public against journalists.

Hillyard was mainly focusing his questions on Trump’s posts on Truth Social; specifically, the post where the former president suggested “potential death and destruction” could result if he was indicted.

Hoping to gain clearer insight into Trump’s “version of events” surrounding Bragg’s investigation, Hillyard persisted in questioning the ex-president, who was not the least bit cooperative. “I don’t want to talk to you,” Trump responded. When the reporter tried to ask another question, Trump snapped “Do you hear me? You’re not a nice guy,” and turned to take another question from another reporter. But Hillyard stuck to his guns, and tried for the third time to get a response, and Trump went ballistic. “Alright, let’s go, get him out of here,” he said. “Outta here. Outta here,” as Hillyard persisted: “The special counsel, sir.” Someone with a deeper voice stepped in at that time, perhaps one of Trump’s campaign aides, and said “Vaughn, we’re done.”

But whether Trump likes it or not, it isn’t a reporter’s job to be “nice.” That’s not given much credence on our resumes. During the times I wrote for newspapers I learned to ask questions that might draw anger because it was sometimes the only way to get an honest, unguarded answer. And I’m well aware that any journalist unfortunate enough to deal with Trump had to dig through several layers of unbelievable b.s.

Much respect to those dealing with that unpleasant task.

After Hillyard was prevented from asking more questions, Trump picked up one of the phones that were still recording the interactions and asked, “Whose is this?” It was Hillyard’s of course. Then the former president picked up another phone and asked the same question. “That one’s mine too,” Hillyard responded. At that, Trump threw the phones out of sight. One landed on the seat next to Hillyard, while an audible “thud” could be heard as the other phone struck a surface.

Hillyard wasn’t the only journalist who ran afoul of Trump.

And The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell found himself bounced off the trip after he wrote about Trump’s Truth Social platform being investigated for money laundering.

Reporters expected to be on Trump’s plane to Waco ahead of anticipated indictment, per source familiar:

NBC News – Vaughn Hillyard
Axios – Sophia Cai
The Guardian – Hugo Lowell
Daily Mail – Rob Crilly
RSBN – Brian Glenn
Associated Press – Evan Vucci

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) March 24, 2023

So now Trump’s campaign has reduced mainstream press access to reporters from conservative outlets. Last week, as he traveled to New Hampshire, the only reporters accompanying him were The Daily Caller’s Henry Rodgers and OANN’s Daniel Baldwin.

Baldwin did a glowing write-up of the trip, calling Trump “warm” and “welcoming.”

“It’s clear Trump values the opinions of everyone he surrounds himself with, whether he agrees or disagrees. He even turned to me and said, ‘You really know your sports.'”

Excuse me, I have to compose myself for a minute.

Bizarrely, Trump is scheduled to participate in a CNN town hall next week. I hope the reporters taking part in this have enough Xanax on hand.

I’m including this clip of Hillyard describing his dealings with Trump below.