Watch Trump attack CNN’s Caitlan Collins in the Oval Office.
President Donald Trump attacked CNN’s Caitlan Collins, saying there was “hate in her eyes.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, June 3, President Donald Trump once again slammed CNN anchor and chief White House correspondent Caitlan Collins, accusing her of seeing hatred in her eyes.
Shortly after Trump answered a question about the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which he called a “beautiful thing,” the president slammed CNN as a “grossly twisted” and “very corrupt organization” before turning his attention to Collins.
President Trump said of Collins: “CNN is a very corrupt organization with corrupt reporters standing there.” “She never smiles. She’s a young, beautiful woman who never smiles. I’ve never seen a smile on her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes.”
President Trump said Collins is said to be hated because “we have borders, we have a strong military, we cut taxes, we do what everyone wants, and we won the election by a landslide.”
Then, when the conversation returned to the “anti-weaponization fund,” President Trump again attacked CNN and the New York Times, accusing the news organizations of grossly mistreating “our people.” When Collins tried to interject, Trump curtly told her to “shut up.”
“You used to be a conservative,” he told her. “She was a conservative from Alabama. Can you believe it?”
Trump even suggested changing ownership of CNN to “settle things.” But he added that it might not be effective because “it’s very difficult to straighten the trash.”
CNN called Collins an “exceptional journalist” in a statement to USA TODAY and stood by its correspondent.
“Caitlan Collins is an outstanding journalist who reports with real depth and tenacity from the White House and on the ground every day,” CNN said in a statement. “She expertly delivers that coverage to the Anchor Chair and CNN platforms every day, and viewers around the world know they can trust them.”
President Trump’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund”
President Trump’s Anti-Weaponization Fund, which has sparked widespread condemnation and conflict between the White House and Congress, will provide up to $1.776 billion to what it calls “victims of law and weaponization,” including those convicted of assaulting police officers during the 2021 Capitol riot.
But the fund appears to have stalled since June 1, when the Justice Department appeared to withdraw from the effort. Asked if the Trump administration would halt the effort, the Justice Department said it would abide by the court’s decision to suspend the funds.
trump vs collins
Wednesday’s incident is not the first time President Trump has attacked Collins or CNN for their coverage of his administration. The 34-year-old journalist frequently sparred with Trump and was even banned from attending White House events in 2018 during his first administration, according to a previous report by USA TODAY.
In February, President Trump criticized Collins, saying he “didn’t smile” after he asked a question about the file on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In an exchange in the Oval Office on February 3, President Trump told Collins, “You’re the worst reporter,” and “CNN can’t get ratings because of people like you.”
He continued, “You know she’s a young woman. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face. Do you know why you don’t smile? Because you know you’re not telling the truth.”
In December 2025, the president called a correspondent “stupid and mean” while discussing construction of the White House ballroom in a post on Truth Social.
In 2020, Trump left the White House briefing room after Collins asked him about the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine during a briefing on the coronavirus. Also in 2020, Trump called Collins and CNN “fake news,” according to Politico. Collins said he coined the term and used it often to describe media outlets he considered biased after he asked her about her relationship with North Korean President Kim Jong Un.
Caitlan Collins Biography
After graduating from the University of Alabama, Collins began her career as an entertainment reporter at the Daily Caller, a right-wing website founded by former Fox News star Tucker Carlson in 2014. She then worked as a White House correspondent for conservative media, covering the 2016 presidential election and President Trump’s first term, and then appeared as a frequent guest on CNN. Former CNN chief Jeff Zucker then hired her as a reporter, and she quickly rose to become the network’s youngest-ever chief White House correspondent at 28 years old.
She was promoted to chief White House correspondent ahead of President Joe Biden’s January 2021 inauguration. Collins will step down as White House correspondent in the fall of 2022 after former CNN chief Chris Licht was named co-host of the now-cancelled CNN This Morning, along with Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow.
After the cancellation of “This Morning,” Collins was named anchor of his own show, “The Source with Caitlan Collins.”
Contributed by: Jay Stahl, Melina Khan / USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com and follow X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
