The female reporter who smacked President Donald Trump in the mouth with a boom microphone has been identified.
The incident happened as Trump took questions from reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday.
The boom microphone with a fuzzy cover hit Trump in the mouth and slid across his face. Trump leaned back to avoid further contact with the equipment.
“She just made television tonight,” Trump told a Secret Service agent who was off camera. “She just became a big story tonight. Right? Did you see that?”
“Yes, sir,” the agent responded.
WATCH: Reporter accidentally pushes microphone into Trump's face pic.twitter.com/NhswllZ0QW
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) March 14, 2025
On Sunday, conservative political activist Laura Loomer identified the reporter as LGBTQ+ activist Danielle Kurtzleben.
“I have identified the reporter who hit President @realDonaldTrump in the face with a boom mic this week while he was speaking to the press on the tarmac,” Loomer wrote on Sunday.
“Her name is Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka. She is the newly appointed White House reporter for @NPR and a massive Trump hater and LGBTQ advocate who once suggested during the 2024 campaign that Trump only spoke in Howell, Michigan because it has ties to the KKK.
Did she hit President Trump in the face on purpose?”
?SCOOP?
I have identified the reporter who hit President @realDonaldTrump in the face with a boom mic this week while he was speaking to the press on the tarmac.
Her name is Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka. She is the newly appointed White House reporter for @NPR and a massive… pic.twitter.com/dgViKT8wdA
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 16, 2025
18 minutes after Loomer identified Kurtzleben, the 26-year-old reporter locked her X page to hide her anti-Trump posts.
BREAKING: Just 18 minutes after I exposed the identity of the @NPR White House reporter Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka for hitting President Trump in the face w/ a boom mic on the tarmac, she just LOCKED HER X & protected her tweets so you can’t see how radical & anti-Trump she is. pic.twitter.com/eBvNSvfIJY
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 16, 2025
Trump’s supporters were concerned that the mic was coated with deadly ricin or a nerve agent.
A nerve agent – such as the one that killed the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un in 2017 – is deadly if it comes in contact with the mouth, nose or eyes.
Symptoms of nerve agent poisoning include nausea, vomiting, confusion, seizures, and paralysis followed quickly by death. Symptoms begin within minutes or hours after exposure.
READ ALSO: Learn the signs and symptoms of ricin poisoning
Ricin is also deadly if exposed to the mouth, nose or eyes. Ricin kills by preventing the body from making protein. Symptoms take anywhere from hours to days.
Symptoms of ricin poisoning include swelling of the eyes and lips; lung irritation; sore throat; skin blisters; itchy, watery eyes and difficulty breathing.
Advanced symptoms include respiratory failure; organ failure; and death.
