'She's a horror show': Trump goes nuclear on reporter questioning his vanity projects

President Donald Trump was confronted on Thursday evening by ABC News senior correspondent Rachel Scott, who asked him to justify all the vanity projects he is engaged in all over Washington, D.C., like the renovation of the Reflecting Pool — and he lost his temper.

"Mr. President, we are here against the backdrop of a war in Iran," Scott said. "Why focus on all these projects as gas prices soar?"

"You know why? Because I want to keep our country beautiful and safe. Beautiful also," said Trump. "This place was a disgusting place. It was, Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and we had a terrible, disgusting, I don't know, you probably don't see dirt, but I do. And you walk down this pond, if you were to walk down, they'll tell you better than anybody. They had to take 11 or 12 truckloads of garbage out of that lake, out of that water, it sat there for years like that. And that's not what our country is about, our country's about beauty, cleanliness, safety, great people, not a filthy capital."

"Such a stupid question," Trump raged. "We're fixing up the reflecting pond to the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and you say, 'Why are you fixing it up?' Because you can understand dirt, maybe, better than I can, but I don't allow it."

"This is one of the worst reporters, she's with ABC Fake News, and she's a horror show," Trump said, turning away. "She's saying, 'Why would you bother fixing this up?' Why would I bother taking 11 or 12 truckloads of filth out of the water in front of the Lincoln Monument? That's what made our country great. Beauty made our country, people made our country great, a question like that is a disgrace to our country."