Overview
- A TMZ video shows President Trump turning toward a heckler at Ford's F-150 plant in Dearborn, appearing to mouth an expletive before raising his middle finger.
- Audio in the clip captures a person shouting what sounded like "pedophile protector," a reference widely tied to Trump’s past association with Jeffrey Epstein.
- White House communications director Steven Cheung defended the response, calling the heckler a "lunatic" and the president’s reaction "appropriate and unambiguous."
- The episode circulated rapidly online after TMZ published it, and outlets reported no confirmed identification of the person heard shouting on the factory floor.
- Coverage noted renewed scrutiny of Epstein-related records, with the Justice Department saying 12,285 files have been released while more than 2 million documents remain under review.