Fox News experienced an uncomfortable moment on Thursday evening, as "Special Report" anchor Bret Baier found himself reading out a complaint about his own program — one posted by President Donald Trump himself.

"Just moments ago, the president, I assume while flying to Texas, he's just landed there, put out a Truth Social saying, 'Jonathan Hunt of Fox News did a particularly inaccurate report on the Failing Islamic Republic of Iran. I don't want to meet; they do. In fact, they are begging to make a deal. Bret Baier should straighten out his flunkies for a change!'"

Baier did his best to keep the broadcast on track, gently telling the president that he had misunderstood what the network had reported.

"First of all, Jonathan Hunt's not a 'flunky,' he's a great reporter," Baier said. "And second of all, Mr. President, we didn't say that you wanted to meet; in fact, we played a sound bite that you didn't want to meet, and there are no negotiations. We said the Secretary Bessent is hoping to meet with G20 countries to increase the pressure on Iran, and that Gulf state allies are inside Tehran trying to get Iran to agree to concessions. That is what he said."

Hunt, the reporter at the center of the president's complaint, has been with Fox News since 1998 and currently serves as the network's chief correspondent based in Los Angeles. The "Secretary Bessent" Baier cited is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whose comments about coordinating with G20 countries to increase pressure on Iran were part of the report Trump misunderstood.

Baier serves as Fox News' chief political anchor and has hosted "Special Report" since 2009, and he has pushed back on Trump on the air before — notably pressing the then-candidate on his false claims about the 2020 election during a June 2023 interview. Trump, who has alternately praised and publicly criticized the network over the years, regularly uses Truth Social — the platform operated by Trump Media & Technology Group — to comment on and attack news coverage.

The on-air exchange came as Trump's war with Iran continues to rage on with no end in sight, with the clashing Strait of Hormuz blockades continuing to disrupt global energy supplies. The strait, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, is one of the world's most critical chokepoints for seaborne oil shipments — roughly a fifth of the world's oil normally passes through it.