President Donald Trump unleashed a fierce attack on MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace through a series of Truth Social posts on Sunday, August 17, predicting her imminent termination and declaring the network effectively defunct. The 79-year-old president’s outburst came in response to Wallace’s criticism of his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
The confrontation began when Trump posted the cryptic word “Bela” on Truth Social without explanation. A user responded with a doctored image of Wallace featuring a “Karen” haircut and red nose, accompanied by captions reading “Typhoid Mary Nicole Wallace,” “Clown News,” and “Nicole Wallace is afraid of losing her job. Get her a Waaambulance.” The fabricated image included a fake news ticker displaying the MSNBC logo alongside the word “misinformation.”
Trump replied directly to the mocking post, stating that Wallace was a loser with poor ratings who had previously been removed from “The View.” He declared, “She will be fired soon! MSNBC IS DEAD!” The president’s post garnered over 17,000 likes and nearly 4,000 shares by early Monday morning.
Wallace currently hosts “Deadline: White House” on MSNBC and previously served as White House communications director under President George W. Bush. She briefly co-hosted ABC’s “The View,” joining the daytime talk show in September 2014 but departing after just one season. Trump referenced this short tenure in his Sunday attack, suggesting it demonstrated her professional failures.
The president’s social media rampage followed his meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, August 15, where he failed to secure a ceasefire agreement regarding the war in Ukraine. Before the summit, Trump had firmly stated that Putin could expect severe consequences if he refused to end the fighting. However, following the meeting, the president modified his position, indicating that achieving peace would require territorial concessions from Ukraine.
Wallace had delivered sharp criticism of Trump’s Putin meeting during her Friday show, describing the encounter as heinous. She accused Trump of standing with the person responsible for Ukrainian suffering and death, arguing that he showed no concern for democracy or democratic allies’ sovereignty. Wallace contended that Trump was gazing adoringly at the Russian leader during their public appearances, noting there was significant physical contact between the two men during handshakes and other interactions.
In additional Truth Social posts on Sunday, Trump expressed frustration with media coverage of the Alaska summit. He claimed that fake news outlets violently distorted the truth about his activities and that nothing he could say or do would lead to honest reporting about him. The president characterized the Ukraine conflict as a war that should never have occurred, referring to it as a consequence of previous administration policies.
Trump further argued that even if he achieved significant diplomatic victories, such as securing Russian territorial concessions, fake news outlets and radical left Democrats would still characterize any agreement as a mistake.
Wallace responded to Trump’s attack during her Monday show, acknowledging that she had witnessed his fury firsthand. She characterized Trump as being angry with anyone who reported truthfully about his meeting with Putin and other stories. Wallace described Trump’s claims about mail-in voting as completely false, noting that the United States was among many countries using such systems, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Switzerland.
Despite Trump’s predictions about Wallace’s employment status, no evidence suggests she faces termination from MSNBC. Wallace’s “Deadline: White House” ranks among the network’s top programs, drawing over one million viewers and nearly doubling CNN’s competing hour viewership. On August 8, her 4 p.m. show attracted 1,063,000 total viewers compared to Fox News’ competing program at 1,953,000, while her 5 p.m. hour drew 1,034,000 viewers versus Fox’s 3,495,000.
This confrontation represents the latest chapter in Trump’s ongoing campaign against MSNBC personalities. He has previously targeted “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, once occasional Mar-a-Lago guests who became fierce critics. Trump also directly contacted MSNBC’s president demanding that late-night host Lawrence O’Donnell be terminated.