President Trump sharply rebuked ABC News on Tuesday and suggested the network should lose its broadcast license after Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce questioned him in the Oval Office about his family’s business connections with Saudi Arabia and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Bruce pressed Trump during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, asking whether the Trump family’s Saudi business ventures presented a conflict of interest. Trump immediately bristled, accusing ABC of being part of what he called a “hoax” and labeling the network “one of the perpetrators.”

“I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and is so wrong,” Trump said. “And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should look at that.”

Despite the heated exchange, Trump did answer the question, asserting that he was not involved in Trump Organization decisions and had stepped away from the company entirely while serving as president. He maintained that any business dealings undertaken by his family were legitimate and minimal in Saudi Arabia. “What my family does is fine,” Trump said. “They’ve done very little in Saudi Arabia, actually, though I’m sure they can do a lot.”

Bruce’s questions also touched on a more internationally sensitive issue: the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the crown prince approved the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump dismissed the characterization and defended the Saudi leader while downplaying Khashoggi’s significance. “You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman.” Trump added that the crown prince “knew nothing about it” and suggested that raising the question in front of the Saudi leader was disrespectful. “You don’t have to embarrass our guest,” he said.

The ABC correspondent also asked Trump why he called on Congress to release the Jeffrey Epstein files rather than ordering their release himself. Trump again responded by calling Bruce “fake news” and criticizing her demeanor rather than the substance of the question. “It wasn’t the question that I mind,” Trump said. “It’s the way you ask these questions. I think you are a terrible reporter.”

Bruce’s questions, while pointed, were grounded in topics that have been publicly documented. The Trump Organization has had past business discussions and interests in Saudi Arabia, including hotel branding and development efforts before Trump took office, making the subject of potential conflicts of interest a legitimate area of inquiry.

Additionally, U.S. intelligence agencies have publicly concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, and those findings have been acknowledged by multiple administrations.

On the Epstein matter, Trump’s call for Congress to release the files despite having the authority to release certain federal materials himself also raised a factual contradiction worth examining.

While Trump objected to Bruce’s tone and approach, the subjects she raised were based in evidence and public record. However, the president perceived both the line of questioning and its tone as intentionally combative and disrespectful.