The ongoing war of words between President Donald Trump and Stephen A. Smith rages on as both notorious trash talkers extend their feud for another round.
Trump, 79, and Smith, 58, have spent the last several days throwing shots at each other on the internet and on television, as the world watches the now-bitter rivalry explode.
An NBA Finals matchup featuring the New York Knicks versus the San Antonio Spurs in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on June 8 set off the heated back-and-forth.
On June 10, the president fired off his most recent takedown of Smith with an early morning Truth Social post full of direct insults aimed at the ESPN personality.
“Stephen A. Smith is an arrogant fool, a low-IQ individual. In other words, he’s ‘dumb as a rock,’ and totally unqualified to ever think of running for high political office, or even low political office, for that matter!” Trump exclaimed on the app.
The polarizing MAGA frontman even took a shot at his presidential predecessor, 83-year-old Democratic politician Joe Biden, in the midst of his digital tirade against Smith.
“He’d get annihilated in a debate by the most incompetent of politicians,” Trump wrote about the veteran NBA analyst, who has teased a possible run for the White House in 2028.
The current president concluded, “Joe Biden’s now ‘fabled’ performance would look great by comparison to anything that this loudmouth huckster has to offer, which isn’t much! Within a few weeks, they’d laugh him out of politics!!!”
Trump’s clapback stems from Smith’s pregame comments, where the sportscaster preeminently placed the blame for a potential Knicks loss on “The Apprentice” reality show alum.
“This president has no business showing up in New York City. I am dead serious. It is selfish. It is narcissistic. It is ridiculous that he is coming to this game,” Smith argued on an episode of the “First Talk” TV show before Game 3 of the Finals.
To the dismay of Smith and many other New Yorkers who were significantly inconvenienced by the extensive security precautions caused by the visit, Trump did show up at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” to watch his hometown team try to go up three games to none.
When cameras cut to Trump during the singing of the national anthem, the crowd inside Madison Square Garden erupted into loud boos. Footage of fans around the city angrily jeering at Trump when he appeared on screen went viral, too.
The Knicks ultimately fell to the Spurs 115-111, and Smith kept his promise to point the finger at Trump for the previously hot team ending its 13-game playoff winning streak and disrupting NYC’s positive vibes heading into the night.
As the backlash grew online, reporters questioned Trump on the tarmac of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport about Smith suggesting that the POTUS jinxed the team and the city.
“I think he’s a nice guy, but you need a certain aptitude to run for president,” Trump replied, before adding, “But you need a high IQ. I’m not sure that Stephen has that. I don’t think he does actually.”
Smith then returned to “First Take” on Tuesday morning to retaliate. With the “Hail to the Chief” song as his soundtrack, the NYC native addressed Trump’s initial “low-IQ” dig from JFK Airport.
Stephen A Smith responds to Donald Trump calling him a low IQ individual on First Take:
“You wanna talk about IQ, I could say I could put my IQ against yours, I got something even better I could ask you why you been running from me for the past year since I asked you to talk to… https://t.co/iI1DpLjkRb pic.twitter.com/Edon6R1fzF
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod
(@big_business_) June 9, 2026
“You wanna talk about IQ? I could say I’d put my IQ up against yours any day of the week. I could go one better. I could ask you why you’ve been running from me for the last year, since I’ve wanted to talk to you,” Smith expressed.
On the June 10th edition of his “Straight Shooter” podcast, the Bronx-born commentator also included a response where he pointed out Trump’s previous supportive remarks about a potential Smith presidential campaign when called into a 2025 NewsNation-hosted town hall.
“The same Donald Trump that said my IQ was low and that you have to have a strong aptitude and a high IQ to be the president. That was the same Donald Trump that told Bill O’Reilly and Chris Cuomo, and a packed audience for a town hall meeting, that he would love to see me run for president,” he recalled.
Smith went on to say that he was not offended by Trump coming at him so personally. Plus, he challenged the commander in chief to sit down with him for an interview to defend some unpopular Republican-backed policies, like congressional redistricting affecting the Black community.
Trump refused to let Smith have the last word. The head of the federal government’s executive branch sent the internet into a further frenzy with his “dumb as a rock” counterattack on Truth Social.
Stephen A. Smith just OBLITERATED Donald Trump for FAILING to put America first, starting a war with Iran, affordability issues, failing to stop Israel’s war with Palestine, acting in his own self-interest, adding $5B to the national debt daily, increasing his net worth from… pic.twitter.com/xpeDcvvHtE
— Slime
(@ItsKingSlime) June 10, 2026
However, both Trump and Smith were ruthlessly clowned online for their days-long spat. For instance, an X user posted, “U.S. President beefing with a sports analyst, lmao,” which led to a reply that read, “Dog, legit insane.”
“Buddy did all that tap dancing these last few months and now seeing what his mans really thinks about him,” tweeted one person, referring to Smith’s previous positive coverage of Trump and the Republican Party.
Another poster warned that Trump could use the IRS to harass Smith as retribution by offering, “Someone is gonna get their tax returns audited soon.”
Furthermore, a Smith critic wrote, “To be fair, I hope this makes Stephen A. stop trying to pander for MAGA votes and stick to not knowing s–t about sports.”
“Donald Trump is dumb as a rock and totally unqualified to ever think of running for high political office, or even low political office, for that matter!” exclaimed a detractor of the president.
A like-minded individual on the social media platform declared, “This is why Trump doesn’t deserve any respect. The media should treat him with the respect he’s earned, NONE! Ignorant SOB!”
