Claim:
In December 2025, CNBC reporter Megan Cassella said to U.S. President Donald Trump: “Sir, you are the president, not God,” and “Mr. President, I ask questions, not permission.”
Rating:
In December 2025, a rumor spread online that CNBC reporter Megan Cassella said to U.S. President Donald Trump: “Sir, you are the president, not God,” and “Mr. President, I ask questions, not permission.” The rumor spread as Trump made headlines for insulting comments he made to various reporters — primarily women — over several weeks.
Dozens of Snopes readers searched the site to verify the claim that Cassella snapped back at Trump, which spread on multiple platforms, including X (archived), Facebook (archived) and Threads (archived). The text of the claim, which was often shared on an image meme, read:
CNBC Correspondent, Megan Cassella landed a one two verbal punch on a stunned Trump during a press briefing.
Her responses to two of his rude outbursts:
“Sir, you are the president, not God.”
Then, in response to him demanding she never say that again she replied “Mr. President, I ask questions, not permission.
Many users in the comments appeared to believe the claim.
The rumor, however, was false. Cassella did not say what the posts claimed she did, and the interaction never took place. There was no watermark on the image most widely spread so it is not clear what social media account made the original claim, but the earliest post we could find appeared on Dec. 4.
We reached out to CNBC seeking comment on the alleged incident, and we will update this story if we receive a response.
Cassella, who was as of this writing a reporter for CNBC covering business and politics, posted on X in September 2025 (archived) that she was beginning her maternity leave, which would last through the end of the year. Her Sept. 19 post was the most recent post available on her X page, and her most recent publication on the CNBC website, as of this writing, was dated Sept. 11.
A Google search of the keywords “Sir, you are the president, not God,” revealed only posts or fact-checks related to the false rumor:
(Google.com)
If the rumor were true and the exchange took place during a news briefing as claimed, footage and reports of the incident by reputable outlets would be publicly available.
