President Donald Trump appeared surprised to see CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins among the journalists outside the United Nations on Tuesday — and he lashed out at her after she tried to ask him a question.
Trump was in New York City to deliver remarks at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. As he was entering the UN, Collins asked the president a question based on new CNN polling numbers: “Two-thirds of Americans don’t think the U.S. is winning the war with Iran. When will it end?”
Trump said, “I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me. You shouldn’t be here!” Collins, who is CNN’s chief White House correspondent, replied, “The United Nations allowed us in, sir.”
Trump, addressing Collins, continued: “You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering me.” He then walked away from the press scrum and didn’t answer her question.
The exchange came after Trump announced Friday, Sept. 18, that he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico “effective immediately” from the White House, conjuring up his familiar allegation that they are “fake news.” The White House barred entry to staffers from the three outlets on Saturday and revoked their press badges.
On Monday, CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued Trump and three White House officials over his ban, alleging it violates the First Amendment and “brazenly discriminates based on editorial viewpoint.”
Also Monday, in response to Trump’s ban of the news outlets, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News — which along with CNN provide the White House TV pool coverage — announced they were suspending coverage of the president at events because of his ban on the news outlets.
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In a post Monday morning on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America. It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!”
Later Monday, Trump said “we’ll go for appeal” — anticipating he will lose a lower-court ruling in the case.
The Oval Office “should be treated with Decorum, Respect, and Dignity, not defiled by Third Rate Clowns, who purposefully distort, twist, and degrade with everything they write or publish,” the president wrote in a social media post. “Virtually every story about me, or anything having to do with me, is negative, wrong and, in many cases, DANGEROUS for our Country!”
In July, Trump had insulted Collins at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. The president belittled Collins’ WHCA award for her coverage of Trump’s Oval Office confrontation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in February 2025. “It’s a fake. She shouldn’t get the award,” Trump said. He continued to address Collins, calling her “a young, active woman” but that “she never smiles. I said, ‘Kaitlan, do you ever smile? Smile. You have a nice position. You’re at CNN fake news. You should be a happy person. Just smile, Kaitlan. Just smile.’” Trump also implied that he thinks Collins looks like trans advocate Dylan Mulvaney, who responded in a TikTok video by saying she was “honoured” to be compared to Collins.
Collins later told Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” that Trump “pretty regularly” issues such insults in the Oval Office and that she wasn’t surprised by his remarks about her at the WHCA dinner. “What was most surprising to me was — the room was filled with a lot of his staffers, his cabinet, his allies, Republicans in Congress — it was so quiet in the room during the president’s remarks,” she said.
From Variety US