President Donald Trump has been captured on camera seemingly ‘mocking’ a young girl over her sporting ambitions, causing some critics to brand him “petty” and “insecure”.
On Tuesday (May 5), Fox News halted its regular programming and live-streamed President Trump as he held a briefing with several child athletes, during which he signed a memorandum to restore the Presidential Fitness Test Award. The 79-year-old politician spoke with the children during the televised event, but his comments to one young girl with aspirations to be a volleyball player have left people online seething. In a clip shared on X by Ed Krassenstein, Trump could be heard asking the girl what sport she plays, to which she responded that she plays volleyball, but wants to try to “get into” soccer over the summer.
Trump then seemingly picked on the girl for “being short”, asking her if she was able to “smash the volleyball” and whether she was able to jump high enough to play the sport.
When the girl admitted she wasn’t able to jump very high, Trump had a sarcastic four-word response.
He said: “Soccer might be better.”
Trump just mocked a little girl for being short, and stomped on her ambitions.
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 5, 2026
Little Girl: “I play volleyball and in the summer I’m trying to get into soccer.”
Trump: “And with your height do you smash the volleyball. Can you get up high? Can you jump high?”
Little Girl: “Not… pic.twitter.com/V5YfG1Eof4
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Alongside the video and a transcript of what was said, Krassenstein wrote on his post: “Trump just mocked a little girl for being short, and stomped on her ambitions.”
The video drew criticism from people online, with several commenting on Krassenstein’s post to call President Trump “petty” and “insecure” for using his position to “mock” young girls with sporting ambitions.
One person said: “Bullying a child to score cheap laughs, this is who he is. Petty, insecure, and completely unfit for any position of leadership. Kids deserve encouragement, not humiliation from a grown man.”
Another added: “He just has ZERO tact. It doesn’t matter if he’s talking to an adult reporter or a six-year-old. Pathetic.”
But another defended the politician, claiming he was just making an observation. They argued: “If this is mocking a girl, then you people have got some serious issues. It’s why participation trophies started. He just told her which sport to choose, she is better suited for soccer than volleyball, he didn’t mock her.”
During the same press briefing, Trump also went on a bizarre rant against the 2020 presidential election, telling the children present that he believed the election was rigged.
He rambled: “I said, ‘Oh wow. I’m not going to be president.’ Six years. I wasn’t the president. I thought I’d easily win the presidency, which, by the way, I did. And unfortunately, bad things happened. It was a rigged election.
“Well, I said, ‘I’ll do it again’. In the polls, I did so well. I had the ultimate poll. We won in a landslide. We won every single swing state. We won the popular vote. We won everything you could win. I ended up with the Olympics. I ended up with the World Cup. And probably, more importantly, we have the 250th anniversary of America.”
Viewers were less than impressed with Trump’s comments, with some social media commenters claiming his ego has become “fragile” after losing to former President Joe Biden during the 2020 election.
One said: “Convince me he’s not deranged,” before another person added: “He never learned about graciously losing as a child. It’s really sad and pathetic.”
A third shared similar sentiments, writing: “Teaching these young athletes how to be a sore loser; excellent role model.”
