Trump on 'What Is a Woman?': 'Somebody That Can Have a Baby Under Certain Circumstances' as Alina Habba Is Sworn In (March 28, 2025)

At the swearing-in of Alina Habba as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a reporter asked President Donald Trump a question the reporter said Democrats struggle to answer. “Since Democrats seem to struggle answering this question, I wanted to ask you: What is a woman, and why is it important that we understand the difference between men and women?” the reporter asked in the Oval Office on March 28, 2025, according to the transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

“Well, I—it’s sort of easy to answer for me, because a woman is somebody that can have a baby under certain circumstances,” Trump answered, as the room laughed. “She can—she has a quality—a woman is a person who’s much smarter than a man, I’ve always found.” [1]

“But men—a woman is a person that doesn’t give a man even a chance of success,” he said [1].

The video above shows the Oval Office ceremony on March 28, 2025. Quotes are from the American Presidency Project, the Federal Register and GovInfo [1][2][3].

”A 94 Percent Issue”

Trump turned the answer to women’s sports. “And a woman is a person that, in many cases, has been treated very badly, because I think that what happens with this crazy—this crazy—issue of men being able to play in women’s sports is just ridiculous and very unfair to women and very demeaning to women, and that’s got to be about a 94 percent—I read today it was a 94 percent issue,” he said [1].

“I watched a Congressman—a Democrat—a well-known Democrat Congressman fighting for the fact that men should be allowed to compete, essentially, in women’s sports. And I say, ‘I hope they keep that going, because they’ll never win another election,’” Trump said [1].

“But women are basically incredible people, do so much for our country, and we love our women, and we’re going to take care of our women,” he said [1].

”Weaponization of Our Justice System”

Trump introduced Habba, who had been one of his lawyers. “Alina joined my legal team several years ago and helped spearhead the effort to defeat the corrupt and grotesque weaponization of our justice system, and she was very effective at doing it,” he said [1].

“Under the last administration, violent crime in New Jersey, however, rose more than 60 percent,” Trump said. “And between Pam and Alina, you don’t want them after you, I can tell you.” [1]

He had a message for judges blocking his deportations. “And we hope this court system that’s become so active all of a sudden in trying to protect some very, very bad people of crime—they have to stop. They have to let us do the job. We were elected to do the job,” Trump said [1].

Attorney General Pam Bondi gave the oath [1].

”We’re Going to Make New Jersey Great Again”

Habba thanked Trump. “If—as a person who is a first-generation American—with parents that came in legally—” she began, to laughter. “I would like to say that I do not ever, ever take for granted that every dream that I ever could have imagined, I have surpassed because of this administration, because of President Trump,” she said [1].

“This man kept fighting for America, and I am just so honored that now I get to fight for the State of New Jersey. I will do a good job, sir. I will clean it up. And we’re going to make New Jersey great again,” Habba said [1].

”$100 Million in Pro Bono Legal Services”

Before the swearing-in, Trump announced a deal with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, the big law firm. “Skadden will provide a total of at least $100 million in pro bono legal services during the Trump administration and beyond,” he read, adding that the firm “affirms and commits its—to merit-based hiring, promotion, and retention.” [1]

“Never Been Done in This Country Before”

Asked whether prices would go up, Trump floated a new tax break. “I just spoke with John Thune about, I just spoke to Mike Johnson about—the Speaker—we’re going to do something that has never been done in this country before,” he said [1].

“If you buy a car in the United States that’s made in the United States, if it’s manufactured here, when you borrow money—if you borrow money, you have interest payments. We’re going to let you deduct the interest payment for income tax reasons,” Trump said [1].

”Liberation Day”

Asked about Canada’s threatened retaliatory tariffs, Trump said he had spoken with Prime Minister Mark Carney that morning. “We have liberation day, as you know, on April 2, because—and I’m not referring to Canada, but many countries have taken advantage of us, the likes of which nobody even thought was possible, for many, many decades,” he said [1].

By the Numbers

94 percent: the share Trump said opposes men in women’s sports [1].
60 percent+: the rise in violent crime in New Jersey under Biden, per Trump [1].
$100 million+: in pro bono work Skadden agreed to, per Trump [1].
April 2: the date Trump set for “liberation day” [1].

What Happened Next

Liberation Day came. On April 2, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14257 on reciprocal tariffs. “I have declared a national emergency arising from conditions reflected in large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits, which have grown by over 40 percent in the past 5 years alone, reaching $1.2 trillion in 2024,” it says [2].

“For example, the United States imposes a 2.5 percent tariff on passenger vehicle imports (with internal combustion engines), while the European Union (10 percent), India (70 percent), and China (15 percent) impose much higher duties on the same product,” the order says [2].

The car loan deduction became law. Section 70203 of Public Law 119-21, “No tax on car loan interest,” says: “The amount of interest taken into account by a taxpayer under subparagraph (B) for any taxable year shall not exceed $10,000.” It adds: “Such term shall not include any vehicle the final assembly of which did not occur within the United States.” [3]

For Karoline Leavitt on women’s sports and the order keeping men out of them, see HYGO News’ page on Feb. 5, 2025. For Trump with El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele on men boxing women, see the page on April 14, 2025.