Fox News anchor Bret Baier publicly pushed back against President Donald Trump during Thursday’s live broadcast of “Special Report” after the president criticized the network’s chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt over a report about the Iran war.
The dispute began after Hunt delivered an update on efforts to end the conflict. During the segment, the correspondent reported that there had been “no significant developments” in the push to bring the war to a close.
Hunt also noted that Trump had said earlier Thursday that the United States and Iran were not currently engaged in talks.
“We’re not looking to meet or anything,” Trump said in a clip aired by the program.
Hunt additionally reported that Iran’s economy was being squeezed by sanctions imposed by the United States.
Shortly after the segment aired, Trump took to Truth Social to blast Hunt’s reporting and call on Baier to intervene.
“Jonathan Hunt of FoxNews did a particularly inaccurate report on the Failing Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote.
The president insisted that he was not seeking a meeting with Iranian officials and claimed that Iran was instead attempting to secure an agreement.
“I don’t want to meet, they do,” Trump continued. “In fact, they are begging to make a deal.”
Trump then directly targeted the “Special Report” anchor, writing, “Bret Baier should straighten out his flunkies, for a change!”
Baier addressed the president’s post later in the live broadcast. After reading Trump’s entire message to viewers, the Fox News anchor defended Hunt and disputed the president’s description of what the correspondent had reported.
“First of all, Jonathan Hunt’s not a flunky,” Baier said. “He’s a great reporter.”
Baier then clarified that neither Hunt nor the program had claimed Trump wanted to meet with Iran. He pointed out that the show had played a clip of Trump explicitly stating that he did not want a meeting.
“Second of all, Mr. President, we didn’t say you wanted to meet,” Baier said. “In fact, we played a soundbite you didn’t want to meet and there are no negotiations.”
The anchor went on to explain what the report had actually said about diplomatic efforts connected to the conflict.
According to Baier, the program reported that Treasury Secretary Bessent was hoping to meet with G-20 countries as part of an effort to increase pressure on Iran.
Baier also said the report noted that Gulf State allies, including Qatar, were inside Tehran and attempting to persuade Iran to agree to concessions.
“That was what was said,” Baier concluded.
The on-air rebuttal came after Trump accused Hunt of delivering an inaccurate account, while Baier maintained that the report correctly reflected the president’s stated opposition to meeting with Iran and clearly described the separate diplomatic efforts underway.
