Trump Publicly Roasts CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Compares Her to Trans Influencer at Correspondents’ Dinner
President Donald Trump turned a personal jab on CNN’s Kaitlan Collins during his speech at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Friday night, leaving parts of the room in uncomfortable silence.
The 80-year-old president stood before nearly 700 journalists and officials at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington and singled out the 34-year-old CNN anchor shortly after she accepted an award for her coverage of his tense Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year. “I want to personally congratulate CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award,” Trump said. “It was all about me. It’s a fake. She shouldn’t get the award, it was a fake. But I didn’t mind, I said, ‘Kaitlan, congratulations.’ But it was fake, there’s no question about it.”
He continued with a familiar complaint about her demeanor. “She’s a young, attractive woman. She never smiles,” Trump said while Collins sat nearby with her CNN colleagues. “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. So smile, Kaitlan, just smile.’”
Trump then tried a roast-style joke that fell flat. “I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship,” he said, “but then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney.” He went on to claim the 2023 partnership with the transgender influencer had cost Bud Light $35 billion in market value, calling it the worst commercial ever made and saying he would not want to hire Mulvaney anytime soon.
The dinner itself carried a different energy than usual. Organizers had moved the event from its original April date after a gunman disrupted the gathering, forcing an evacuation. Friday’s version featured tighter security, a smaller guest list of about one-fourth the normal size, and a venue that once operated as a Trump hotel. Trump’s speech stretched well past an hour as he mixed complaints about the media with other political jabs.
CNN colleagues in the room and on air pushed back immediately. Wolf Blitzer, who had presented the awards, glanced toward Collins during the remarks. On the network’s live coverage, reporters called the attack absurd and false, while a network spokesperson described Collins as an exceptional journalist known for her strength and skill.
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