Overview
- During a walkthrough at Ford’s River Rouge complex in Dearborn on January 13, a person on the factory floor shouted “pedophile protector” at President Trump.
- Video first published by TMZ shows Trump appearing to mouth an expletive before making a hand gesture widely interpreted as flipping the person off.
- The White House communications director, Steven Cheung, defended the response, calling the heckler “a lunatic” and describing the president’s reply as appropriate.
- Coverage notes the heckler was described as a worker or member of staff but remains unidentified, and no official actions have been reported.
- The exchange comes as the Justice Department says it has released 12,285 Epstein-related files while more than 2 million documents remain under review; Trump later delivered his scheduled Detroit Economic Club speech.