The White House is standing by Donald Trump’s decision to call a female reporter “Piggy.”

In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Wednesday, Nov. 19, a White House official defended Trump’s comments to Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey aboard Air Force One, saying, “This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane.”

“If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.”

The official did not provide any clarity on what made Lucey’s behavior improper.

It comes after Trump, 79, called Lucey “Piggy” on Friday, Nov. 14, while speaking to a gaggle of reporters.

Lucey asked Trump a question about the Epstein files during the meeting. In response, Trump, who has now twice changed his opinion about releasing the files, distanced himself from Jeffrey Epstein and said they “had a very bad relationship for many years.”

He then shifted the focus to the accused sex trafficker and convicted sex offender’s relationship with the likes of other politicians, including former President Bill Clinton.

Lucey began to ask a follow-up, saying, “Sir, if there’s nothing incriminating in the files…” However, Trump cut her off, snapping, “Quiet. Quiet, Piggy.” He then continued to address other questions.

A representative for Bloomberg News also commented on the insult to The Guardian, saying, “Our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking questions without fear or favour. We remain focused on reporting issues of public interest fairly and accurately.”

Before shutting down Lucey’s question on the matter, Trump was asked about an email shared by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, in which Epstein wrote that the president “knew about the girls.”

“I know nothing about that,” he replied and added that if he were involved, “they would’ve announced that a long time ago.”

“It’s really what did he mean when he spent all the time with Bill Clinton, with the president of Harvard, who, you know who that is. Summers, Larry Summers, whatever his name is,” he said.

That same day, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social and said that he would ask U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to open investigations into prominent Democrats over their alleged ties to Epstein.

“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats. Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island.’ Stay tuned!!!” he said, referring to the situation as a “hoax” perpetuated by Democrats.

After announcing plans to release the Epstein files while on the campaign trail, the president cooled on the idea upon assuming office. In July, he referred to them as a “hoax” on Truth Social.

Trump performed another abrupt about-face on the topic in November, when he urged Republicans in the House to vote for the release of the files. The vote occurred on Tuesday, Nov. 18 and passed with a vote of 427-1.

Republican Rep. Clay Higgins was the sole member of the House to vote against the bill. He defended his vote in a statement on X, saying that he’d “been a principled ‘NO’ on this bill from the beginning.”

Trump’s shift to encourage Republicans to support the measure came after it became apparent that several Republicans already planned to break ranks and vote for the files to be released without his support. That includes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whom he referred to as a “traitor” on social media.

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It also came after the House Oversight Committee released more than 20,000 pages of documents that they received from the Epstein estate. The data dump included many emails that Epstein wrote about Trump, including one where he referred to him as “borderline insane” and another in which he called him “dangerous.”

Trump has long denied any wrongdoing in association with Epstein, who was arrested and charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors in July 2019. He died by suicide in his cell at New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center the following month.

After passing in the House, the bill went on to the Senate. CNN reported that it passed unanimously there, meaning that it will now go on to Trump to sign.