Trump rips ‘out of shape’ reporter for asking about canceled Kansas trip: ‘You look like hell’

WASHINGTON – President Trump viciously mocked an “out of shape” reporter Thursday when the reporter asked why he canceled a Saturday campaign trip to Kansas — telling the man, “you look like hell.”

Trump, 80, bristled at the suggestion that he was exhausted from a rigorous travel schedule to support Republicans in tight congressional races.

“Mr. President, you have traveled a lot. We have traveled a lot with you. How are you? How is your health?” the reporter asked after Air Force One returned from a stop in South Carolina.

“I think that’s great. I think you see that,” Trump responded before saying “we had a great rally” and that “we’re going to have a strong Tuesday night.”

Trump lashed out at his interlocutor when the journalist pressed him.

“So you not going to Kansas has nothing to do with you being tired of traveling?” the reporter asked, prompting Trump to focus on his own health.

“You’re a sick guy. By the way, Reuters is terrible,” the president fumed.

“Look at this guy. He’s really not in good shape, look how bad he is: he comes to me and says, ‘Sir, you’re not going to Kansas.’

“He said, ‘What is the reason?’ After what, 28 years? He said, “What is the reason, sir, that you are not going to Kansas?”

“You know what the reason is? I don’t feel obligated to go to Kansas. I’m going to Florida tomorrow, and I’ll do (more) if anything else comes up. But he said, ‘You’re not going to Kansas, sir. Are you feeling okay?”

“You’ve been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect. You’re disgusting. Get in shape. You look like hell.”

The White House Rapid Response Team celebrated the takedown and identified reporter Jacob Bogage on

Trump has mocked journalists before, but it’s usually women who are the targets of criticism over their appearance, calling one a “pig” and at least two others ugly “inside and out” since returning to office last year.

Lately, he has begun praising men’s physiques in the latter part of the campaign, including repeatedly talking about Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-Ohio) muscular posterior, while promoting the previously obscure appointee senator’s football past to voters.

A White House official told The Post in response to a question about the canceled trip to Kansas this weekend that Trump “will continue to connect directly with Americans across the country through more than 20 tele-rallies leading up to Election Day.”

Trump is very sensitive to suggestions of infirmity, and his first-term communications director, Hope Hicks, said, “Donald Trump is never tired and he is never sick.”