One of President Donald Trump’s foremost rivalries during his first term as president was with the establishment media, particularly those like CNN and MSNBC.
Fast forward a Joe Biden presidency later, and Trump’s rivalry with the media does not seem to have abated at all — especially with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Collins, a one-time employee of conservative firebrand Tucker Carlson at The Daily Caller, has often drawn fierce criticism from Trump due to her accusatory style of questioning.
(In fact, Collins has similarly drawn the ire of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt recently due to the style and substance of her questions.)
So fed up with Collins’ questioning was Trump, that on Tuesday, he very publicly shut her down during a media briefing with his cabinet.
Collins tried to bring up the recent Signal text snafu that has captured national attention, and, well, just watch Trump’s response to her “very rude behavior”:
.@POTUS shuts down Fake News CNN’s @kaitlancollins and her very rude behavior: “Excuse me, I didn’t pick you.” pic.twitter.com/DjcjqGjKXf
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 25, 2025
“Mr. President, you said that your national security advisor [Mike Waltz] learned a lesson after a reporter …” Collins began.
Do you ever watch CNN?
“Excuse me,” Trump interjected. “I didn’t pick you.”
He then turned to another reporter and told him to “go ahead” with his line of questioning.
A clip from the New York Post, which included an earlier part of the conversation, showed that Trump was discussing issues in the Middle East when Collins tried to pivot on the topic.
This is hardly the first time that Trump and Collins have locked horns, with the former being increasingly dismissive of the CNN pundit.
In February, Trump effectively told Collins to shut up when she peppered him with questions at an executive order signing ceremony.
“Excuse me,” Trump told Collins then, in remarkably similar fashion to the most recent spat, “We haven’t asked you to speak yet, please.”
🚨🔥CNN’s Kaitlan Collins had to be shut down AGAIN — this time by President Trump.
“Excuse me. We haven’t asked you to speak yet, please.” pic.twitter.com/WMZEN9BAmo
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 13, 2025
In an incident before that, Trump outright questioned the intelligence of Collins after she asked a leading question about a plane crash — and added a sarcastic barb.
Trump to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: “That’s not a very smart question — I’m surprised, coming from you.” pic.twitter.com/ZrIOICJ5tg
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 30, 2025
“That’s not a very smart question,” Trump said. “I’m surprised, coming from you.”
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