Trump Scolds CNN’s Kaitlan Collins For Not Smiling

Trump lobbed the cliched insult at CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins after she pressed him on the latest release of Jeffrey Epstein files, noting that his allies Elon Musk and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared in the documents.

Trump brushed off her first questions, but the mention of Musk and Lutnick appeared to set him off.

“You are the worst reporter. No wonder CNN has no ratings because of people like you,” Trump said.

“You know, she’s a young woman,” he said to others in the room before turning his attention back to Collins.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile,” he scolded her. “I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face. You know why you’re not smiling? Because you know you’re not telling the truth.”

CNN “should be ashamed of you,” he added.

A network spokesperson praised Collins’ work following the exchange with Trump:

“Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity. She skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day, which audiences around the world know they can trust.”

The incident wasn’t the first time Trump took aim at Collins. In December, she became the subject of one of his Truth Social rants after she asked him about the rising cost estimates of his $400 million White House ballroom project.

“Caitlin Collin’s of Fake News CNN, always Stupid and Nasty, asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago,” Trump wrote, misspelling her name.

And when taking a question from Collins last year, Trump referred to her as a “very low-rated anchor.”

Trump’s spats with Collins go back even further. During his first term in 2018, the White House barred her from attending an open press event shortly after she peppered him with questions about his former attorney, Michael Cohen, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Collins said that White House press staff told her that her questions were “inappropriate.” Then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement that said Collins was barred from the event because she shouted and refused to leave the Oval Office.