Vladimir Putin had just landed in Anchorage, Alaska, when the question was asked: "Will you stop killing civilians?". The Russian president, standing next to Trump on the red carpet, touches his ear, gestures as if not hearing. This is how Rachel Scott's question, a veteran journalist from ABC News, along with two others that followed, "President Putin, will you accept a ceasefire?" and "Mr. Putin, have you underestimated Ukraine?" All of them remained unanswered.
Scott did not stop there. Also present in the room for the summit where the two leaders were accommodated, she tries again: "Mr. Putin, will you commit to not killing more civilians?", she asks along with questions from other colleagues. But in that case as well, neither the Russian nor the American leader responded.
It is not the first time that a question from Rachel Scott has sparked controversy. The most recent dates back to May. During a press conference with the president of the U.S. Donald Trump, she had asked if it seemed appropriate to accept from Qatar the "gift" of the presidential plane. "I think it was a very generous gesture and I appreciated it very much. I would never be someone who rejects that kind of offer," the president responded.
But already during the electoral campaign, in August 2024, Scott had angered Trump. "She was very rude," he had said. The contentious question had been posed to her by Scott in the meeting - already tense - with the National Association of Black Journalists. Scott, who had led ABC's coverage of Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race a few days earlier, cited several past statements by Trump about black leaders, including the falsehood, spread by him, about the birthplace of former president Barack Obama.
"Why should black voters you are asking to vote for you trust you after using language like that?" Scott asked. Trump immediately attacked her. "I don't think I've ever been asked a question in such a horrible way, a first question. You don't even say good morning, how are you. Do you work for ABC? Because I think they are a fake news network." The video of the exchange, however, like the one on Friday in Anchorage, went viral immediately.
Born in 1993, Scott is a senior political correspondent for ABC and a news presenter on Disney+.