US politics live: Trump tells female reporter: ‘Quiet piggy’

Donald Trump has been captured in extraordinary footage as he spoke to a female reporter on board Air Force One. Follow our live coverage.

Welcome to our coverage of US politics.

President Donald Trump offered a warm welcome to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday.

In an extraordinary moment, he even stepped in to defend him when a reporter raised the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

During their Oval Office meeting, a journalist directed a question about Khashoggi’s murder to the crown prince, but Mr Trump jumped in before he could respond.

“You’re mentioning someone who was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman,” Trump said, insisting the crown prince had no involvement. “Whether you liked him or didn’t like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it.”

“You don’t have to embarrass our guest,” the president added.

It comes as footage comes to light of Mr Trump telling a female reporter “quiet piggy” when she asked him a question on Air Force One.

The potentially insulting interaction from the US President occurred on Friday of last week, US time, but appears to have gained traction on Tuesday.

As he often does, Mr Trump gaggled with the media pack that travel with him on the plane. Often these can last quite a while with all manner of subjects discussed.

Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg’s White House correspondent, asked Mr Trump about the Epstein files. At that point, the President was against releasing the files but has since changed his tune.

“Quiet, quiet piggy,” Mr Trump appeared to reply to the journalist - although the aircraft noise was loud. He then appeared to wag a finger in her face.

Read on for more updates

Originally published as US politics live: Trump tells female reporter: ‘Quiet piggy’