We just hope that once Kaitlan Collins was out of sight of the president, she was smiling to herself.
CNN aired footage of President Donald Trump questioning the network’s chief White House correspondent after noticing Collins was among the horde of journalists waiting to speak to him on Tuesday morning as he entered the United Nations.
Trump announced a ban he made last week in a Truth Social post, prohibiting news outlets CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
In the footage, Collins, who is off-camera, can be heard shouting a question about the Iran war to Trump as he enters the U.N. headquarters in New York City, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump. Upon hearing Collins’ voice, Trump approached the group of reporters, raised his hands to silence the chatter, and said, “It’s an honor to be here.” He then immediately appeared to address Collins.
“I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me. You shouldn’t be here!” Trump said.
“The United Nations allowed us in, sir,” Collins replied.
“You should not be here covering me,” Trump continued. “You said you weren’t going to cover me; you shouldn’t be covering me.”
Collins then responded by asking her question again.
“Two-thirds of Americans don’t think the U.S. is winning the war with Iran. When will it end?” Collins asked.
Trump then seemed to adjust his face and body in the direction of CNN’s camera to vaguely reply to her question.
“We’re making a lot of progress,” the president said. “Our country is doing really, really well.”
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He then thanked all the reporters and walked off.
After CNN aired the tense exchange, Collins set the record straight with CNN anchor Kate Bolduan regarding the network’s stance on coverage of the president.
“Now I should note, Kate, CNN, of course, never said we were not going to cover the president,” Collins said. “It was actually the president who tried to stop us from being able to cover him.”
Brian Stelter, CNN’s chief media analyst, later echoed Collins’ sentiment to Bolduan.
“The president’s comment shows total ignorance about how the American news media actually operates,” Stelter said. “About how journalists are able to move about freely in the United States, about how, in a democracy, journalists are going to find ways to ask questions, even if the president doesn’t like it.”
CNN, MS NOW and Politico are not kowtowing to Trump, either. On Monday, all three outlets announced they are suing over the president’s ban.
According to MS NOW, the lawsuit states that the president acted “in disregard of the most basic guarantees of the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause.”
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