CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta late Thursday night sent a vulgar direct message on Twitter to a former staffer in President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Fuck you,” Acosta wrote to Justin Caporale, the former director of operations for first lady Melania Trump.

Caporale shared the message on Twitter and later allowed The Daily Caller News Foundation to log into his account and view the message. The vulgar message appeared to be the first time either Acosta or Caporale had messaged each other on Twitter.

.@justincap_ allowed me to log into his account and view the message. Here’s a screenshot I took pic.twitter.com/r4F6EpbQAH

— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) October 19, 2018

Caporale just minutes before had mocked Acosta in a tweet for complaining about the Trump campaign’s treatment of the press.

“Tonight the Trump campaign/WH turned up the music so loud the press risers were vibrating. Nearly impossible to do live TV. I suppose the WH loves those kinds of shenanigans,” Acosta wrote on Twitter. “But I wonder if it’s a security concern for [U.S. Secret Service] or local law enforcement. They can’t hear either.”

“Dear Diary…..” Caporale wrote in reply to Acosta.
Screenshot/Twitter

Screenshot/Twitter

“Dear diary…” is a popular way of mocking Acosta on Twitter, in reference to the CNN reporter’s penchant for tweeting about himself.

Whoever came up with the idea of putting the words “Dear Diary” in front of every Jim Acosta tweet is a Twitter genius. It works so well.

— Jeff B. (@EsotericCD) June 29, 2018

Dear Diary, https://t.co/QJCV6CMNkD

— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) June 29, 2018

After Caporale wrote on Twitter that Acosta owed him an apology, the CNN reporter replied that he thought the former Trump staffer was “an old friend from the campaign.” (RELATED: 7 Times CNN Botched The News In 2017)

“Hey buddy I thought you were an old friend from the campaign days. I’m so sorry. Hope I didn’t offend you. Have a good night and take care,” Acosta wrote.

Hey buddy I thought you were an old friend from the campaign days. I’m so sorry. Hope I didn’t offend you. Have a good night and take care. https://t.co/4u9fj1BNPI

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 19, 2018

CNN’s public relations department did not immediately return a request for comment on Acosta’s vulgar message.

Follow Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson