President Donald Trump has once again taken aim at CNN host Kaitlan Collins, this time after she asked him about his war priorities.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the president claimed he had discussed a possible ceasefire in the four-year war in Ukraine during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But as Collins went to ask a question about the issue, the president turned to NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, who was a guest at the White House alongside astronauts from the successful Artemis II mission.
“Fake news,” he said, in reference to the CNN reporter.
Collins, ignoring his jibe, later asked the president which war was likely to end first: Iran or Ukraine? This, in turn, sparked another insult from the president.
“Ummmm. That’s an interesting question. You know, coming from you, it’s very interesting,” Trump said.
“Which war would end first? I don’t know. Maybe they’re on a similar timetable.”
The 79-year-old then appeared to confuse the two wars as he went on to answer the question.
“I think Ukraine—militarily, they’re defeated, although you wouldn’t know that by reading the fake news,” he said, apparently referring to Iran.
“So they had 159 ships, every ship is right now underwater. Typically, that’s pretty good. What do you think, Jared?”
The comments marked the latest attack Trump has made on Collins, merely days after he urged the nation to unite in the wake of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
The host of CNN’s The Source was one of almost 3,000 guests at the dinner on Saturday night, seated at a table near the center of the room, meters from where the president sat on stage between the first lady and WHCA president Weija Jiang, a reporter from the Trump-favored network CBS.
In a rarity for the president, Trump later praised Jiang at a press conference after the shooting, telling her: “Madam chairman... I just want to say you did a fantastic job. What a beautiful evening.”
Collins has yet to enjoy such compliments from Trump, who once described her as “the worst reporter” when she attempted to ask him about files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile,” he told her at the time.
“I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face. You know why you’re not smiling? Because you know you’re not telling the truth.”
But the president also has a history of extremely personal attacks on other female reporters, too, particularly when they ask him questions he doesn’t like.
In November, for instance, he told Bloomberg News correspondent Catherine Lucey, “quiet piggy” during a clash on board Air Force One.
A few weeks later, he lashed out at ABC White House Correspondent Mary Bruce, accusing her network of “being one of the perpetrators” of the so-called “Democratic hoax” into Epstein.
“I’ll tell you something. I think the license should be taken away from ABC, because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong,” a visibly angry Trump said at the time.
And not long after, he lashed out at Washington Post reporter Natalie Allison when she asked him about parts of his MAGA base not being satisfied “with the administration just focusing on deporting violent criminals.”
Trump immediately interjected, demanding to know, “Who are you with?”
When Allison said she was with the Post, Trump replied: “Well, you’re having a hard time getting readers. Washington Post is doing very poorly. Go ahead. You have a very bad attitude.”
One of Trump’s more notable recent tirades, however, took place this weekend in an interview with 60 Minutes host Norah O’Donnell in the wake of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
Merely 24 hours after telling reporters it was time for the nation to unite, Trump lashed out at O’Donnell for asking about the shooter’s manifesto, which contained references apparently to a “rapist“ and a “pedophile.”
“You’re a disgrace,” he told her.
“I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re horrible people,” he added.
“Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody… you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”
