Alina Habba sparred with Sunny Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg, and more at the Hot Topics table.

The View cohosts clash with ex-Donald Trump counselor, audience gasps during tense on-air interview

Alina Habba sparred with Sunny Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg, and more at the Hot Topics table.

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April 29, 2026 1:25 p.m. ET

Alina Habba and Sunny Hostin on 'The View'. Credit:

- Donald Trump's former White House counselor Alina Habba stopped by *The View *for a tense interview.

- Habba primarily clashed with Sunny Hostin, though she pushed back against Whoopi Goldberg, too.

- At one point, the audience audibly groaned over one of Habba's observations.

*The View** *has welcomed another staunch conservative to sit at the Hot Topics table, with former Donald Trump counselor Alina Habba engaging Wednesday in a tense interview with the panel on issues related to the president.

After leaving her advisory role with the president in early 2025, Habba has maintained a good relationship with Trump, and was even in the room when shots rang out Saturday night at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C.

While they lightly discussed the incident at the top of the interview, former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin turned her attention toward the recent indictment of ex-FBI director James Comey over what she summarized as being "related to an Instagram post of seashells, an Instagram post that he deleted the very next day and apologized for," though many have interpreted it, as Habba said, a message "to kill" Trump, the 47th president.

"The dictionary disagrees with you on that" definition, Hostin replied, referencing Comey's deleted image that showed shells arranged on a beach, spelling out "8647" (Merriam-Webster describes the term "eighty-six" as "slang meaning 'to throw out,' 'to get rid of,' or 'to refuse service to.'")

Joy Behar and Alina Habba on 'The View'.

After they sparred on the topic, Whoopi Goldberg attempted to get the discussion back on track when Joy Behar cut in, and allowed Habba to continue her response.

"This is an FBI director. We have responsibilities. You guys have responsibilities not to call the president certain things or say things that could incite violence," Habba stressed. When Hostin brought up Trump's past suggestions that some Democrats engaged in behavior that's "punishable by DEATH," Habba claimed she hasn't "seen that post," but that "nobody should be inciting violence, period."

She continued, "But you have to remember something, the Department of Justice brings real cases. We are not Jack Smith, we're not Letitia James, we bring real cases against people," though the audience audibly groaned at her observation.

Later in the conversation, Habba drew Goldberg's ire when she claimed that "prescription drug prices" and "egg prices" are both "going down" in the United States.

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Goldberg replied, "For who?" to which Habba snapped back, "Look at it." Goldberg clapped back, telling Habba, "I am looking at it, and a lot of people lost their healthcare."

"Are you talking about Obamacare?" Habba asked. Goldberg responded, "No, babe, I'm talking about your Big Beautiful Bill."

Near the end of the interview, Goldberg asked how Habba, the child of Iraqi immigrants, felt about Trump's stance on immigration.

"He is pro-immigration the right way, through the front door, through our systems, through the policy," Habba said. "He's not pro-somebody getting stabbed on a bus, he's not pro-rapists."

Goldberg stood firm in her opposition to Habba's remarks: "You're mixing two things up," she said, later clarifying, "I'm talking about people who are fleeing their country where their child might be in danger, their child's sexuality might be in danger."

Habba finished her thought by maintaining that proper immigration is a "process that must be complied with."

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Habba's interview marks the latest in a growing line of those conducted with conservative figures on the show, with other right-leaning people appearing on the program in various capacities, including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Cheryl Hines as interview guests, and guest cohosts including staunch conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck, former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, MAGA supporter Savannah Chrisley, and lifelong Republican and comedian, Sheryl Underwood.

*The View* airs weekdays on ABC. Watch a portion of Habba's appearance in the show's post above.

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Source: “EW Talk”