Donald Trump was mocked on social media on Monday after his defensive demeanor with a female reporter changed in the blink of an eye when he discovered she worked for Ben Shapiro’s right-wing media outlet, The Daily Wire.

The president’s stark 180 came after the reporter put to Trump that French President Emmanuel Macron “is blaming the Iran war and you, essentially, for the rioting in France right now.”

“I don’t think he is. No, I think that’s fake news,” Trump curtly responded.

The president then reached for a familiar playbook, asking which outlet the reporter worked for. He often uses the question to tee up an attack on the journalist and their organization as “fake news” or liars.

“Who are you with?” Trump asked.

But when the reporter identified herself as The Daily Wire’s White House correspondent, Mary Margaret Olohan, Trump immediately changed his tune.

“Oh, Daily Wire is good,” he said.

Putting up a hand as if to shield his apology, Trump added: “Sorry, Daily Wire is good,” before walking away, then returning to call Macron “a friend of mine” and blame immigration for the unrest, despite officials putting it down to left-wing movements.

The White House later shared the clip on X, making light of the exchange with a crying-with-laughter emoji.

Watch the moment here:

.@POTUS: "Sorry, the @realDailyWire is good." 🤣 pic.twitter.com/pIuqgZORUt

Critics weren’t as amused, however:

Lol, he accidentally gave away the game. He can’t handle tough questions from anyone. https://t.co/3HDiDu6UuM

See in 10 seconds it went from FAKE NEWS to "You're GOOD NEWS!"So all those times you read info from the WH, you were lied to. See they choose who hears the Truth, this is why they are the worst EVER!  pic.twitter.com/qai3GiwoA5

😂🇺🇸 Trump called the question “fake news” before even hearing which outlet the reporter represented. The moment she said The Daily Wire, suddenly the outlet was “good.”  At this point, it looks like if he doesn’t like the question, he just calls it fake news instead of answering…

Clown show https://t.co/Y3eCctRy6a

First time I’ve ever heard him APOLOGIZE with sincerity. And it’s because he knows The Daily Wire kisses his ass as a propaganda machine.

Another uppity female reporter asking impertinent questions and…Oh, wait a sec. https://t.co/qGIoHoR9lT

So if it was the NY Times it wouldn't have been true? 🤣🤦♂️

This kind of just shows you that Trump has gamed the “fake news” accusations as a way to shut down any actual questions and when he finds out it’s Daily Wire his opinion completely changes lmfao https://t.co/xQw07S8GlM

I'm so sick of the "who are you with" because that will determine how I treat you

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