Donald Trump has branded a reporter a "disgrace" and "fake" in a heated press conference.

The outburst came after President Trump found himself being questioned over his early response to the severity of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump was challenged by CBS White House correspondent Paula Reid after he said that the travel restrictions he implemented in February saved lives.

Despite President Trump's attempts to talk over her, Reid did not abandon her line of questioning and said: "The argument is that you bought yourself some time (with the travel restrictions)."

She continued: "You didn't use it to prepare hospitals. You didn't use it to ramp up testing."

Watch Trump's meltdown below:

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Reid continued: "Right now, nearly 20 million people are unemployed. Tens of thousands of Americans are dead.

"How is this rant supposed to make people feel confident in an unprecedented crisis?"

However, instead of answering Reid's question, Trump simply said: "You're so disgraceful.

"It's so disgraceful the way you say that."

Donald Trump restricted travel to the United States on February 2.

Donald Trump speaking. [[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

Unphased at being called a disgrace by the president, Reid continued: "What did your administration do in February with the time that your travel ban bought you?"

He responded: "A lot. A lot. And in fact, we’ll give you a list."

Then, as Reid was trying to press him for an answer again, Trump said: "Look, you know you're a fake, you know that. Your whole network, the way you cover it, is fake."

He added: "The people are wise to you. That's why you have a lower approval rating than you've ever had before."

At the time of writing, there have been 1,935,646 cases of the novel coronavirus and it has claimed 121,726 lives globally, per the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Donald Trump brands reporter a 'disgrace' and 'fake' in heated press conference