A new video of Donald Trump struggling to answer a journalist’s question during a press conference has surfaced online. The US President found himself in a tough spot again when a reporter asked him a simple question: “Are you asking the Justice Department to look into the federal investigations into you and look for compensation, and how much are you asking for?” A baffled Trump replied, “Um, who is asking for what?”
Q: Are you asking the DOJ to look into the federal investigations into you and look for compensation, and how much are you asking for?
TRUMP: Um. Who is asking for what?
Q: Are you asking to pay compensation and how much?
TRUMP: I don’t get any compensation. I do it for… pic.twitter.com/2pz1EjHqwD
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 21, 2025
Trump’s apparent cluelessness prompted the journalist to press the question again. “For the federal investigations into you? Are you asking them to pay compensation, and how much?” continued the journalist during the meeting session. “I don’t get any compensation. I do it for nothing. I gave up my salary,” Trump responded to the question the second time.
Trump, after failing to comprehend the question multiple times, finally replied, “Well, I guess they probably owe me a lot of money for that, probably. That’s true. That’s very interesting. No, I get no salary. I gave up my salary. It’s a good salary, not as much as these guys make, but that’s ok. It’s a lot of money. And as you know, I did not take it in the first four years. I’ve not taken it in these four years either.”
Trump went on to add, “But as far as all of the litigation, everything, yeah, they probably owe me a lot of money. But if I get money from our country, I’ll do something nice with it, like to give it to charity or give it to the White House, where we restore the White House. And we’re doing a good job. As you know, the ballroom is under construction.”
Trump’s “ballroom” remark was about his whopping $250 million project, as a part of which the East Wing of the White House is being demolished.
On social media platform X, users decided to voice their opinions on both Trump’s inability to understand the question in the first attempt as well as his “ballroom” comment.
A netizen’s comment on X read, “Meaning he’s paying himself back for paying for the ballroom and other things he claims he’s paying for.” Another user wrote on the same thread, “So he is gonna take our money to build a ballroom we will never see inside of.”
Some X users decided to comment on the way Trump reacted to the question. Spoiler – no one seemed impressed. “Please get grandpa some hearing aids. It is ridiculous asking him questions he obviously cannot hear anymore,” read a comment on the video. “He can’t even understand basic questions anymore…Always has to ask ‘huh’,” read a second.
Speaking of Trump’s big reveal of the Ballroom, it turned into a big letdown. Photos of the demolition went insanely viral on social media amid multiple assurances from the White House that the project would not “interfere” with the present structure. Throughout, Trump’s administration claimed that “no taxpayer dollars” would be used and that “patriotic donors” were funding it.
Video shows the demolition of the East Wing façade of the White House to attach Trump’s new ballroom to the main building. In July, Trump said, “It won’t interfere with the current building. It’ll be near it, not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing structure.” pic.twitter.com/IJDPOAMiQz
— Molly Ploofkins (@Mollyploofkins) October 21, 2025
As soon as the demolition photos went viral, critics and the public alike started calling out the Trump administration. Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, reposted photos of the demolition in a strongly worded X post and wrote, “Ripping apart the White House just like he’s ripping apart the Constitution.”
