Donald Trump Launches Fresh Attack on CNN Reporter Kaitlan Collins for 'Never Smiling' Before Saying 'She Has Hatred in Her Eyes'
Donald Trump has insulted CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins once again during an Oval Office briefing on Wednesday.
June 4 2026, Published 11:20 a.m. ET
Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins by claiming she has "hatred in her eyes."
RadarOnline.com can reveal that the president, 79, heightened his anger towards the female correspondent during an Oval Office briefing on Wednesday.
'You Should Be Ashamed Of Yourself'
Trump slammed Collins in front of fellow reporters during fiery exchange.
Collins, 34, asked Trump about the Justice Department's $1,776 billion "anti-weaponization fund" following a Republican revolt on Capitol Hill.
The president responded by attacking the journalist personally and professionally.
"I thought that was the greatest thing," Trump said of potential payouts for lawfare victims, "because people like you have abused our people so badly."
Collins then attempted to interject, but Trump shut her down immediately.
"Be quiet … you should be ashamed of yourself. You used to be a conservative," the president told her.
Trump continued his tirade by referencing Collins' background and her employer.
"She used to be a conservative from Alabama. Can you believe it?" he said.
'Young, Beautiful Woman, Never Smiles'
Trump's comments were sparked by questions surrounding $1,776 billion 'anti-weaponization fund.'
He then called CNN "a very corrupt organization" and labeled Collins a "corrupt reporter."
The commander-in-chief also commented on Collins' demeanor during briefings, saying: "Young, beautiful woman, never smiles.
"I never see a smile on her face."
He added: "I see her standing with such hatred in her eyes." Collins responded only by noting she is "still from Alabama.”
A CNN spokesperson defended Collins in a statement, saying: "She is an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity."
Collins' CNN colleague Anderson Cooper, 59, also defended her after playing a clip of their exchange on his show that night.
'That Doesn’t Happen To Men'
Anderson Cooper slammed Trump's behavior, saying the president would never use that language to a man.
He said: "I’m not asking Kaitlan about this because she's got actual work to do, and she doesn’t need to be answering questions about this kind of behavior.
"That’s the president of the United States, a nearly 80-year-old man who has no problem commenting on her physical appearance and telling her she needs to smile."
He added: "That doesn’t happen to men.
"No one's ever said that to me in an office setting. She was there, like every other journalist doing her job, standing around with a bunch of non-smiling men, by the way, all behind her. I don’t know if you saw that. She gets singled out.
"Now, this, of course, is not the first time the president has focused on professional female reporters, Kaitlan included."
Trump has form for belittling female reporters.
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Cooper then played a montage of clips of Trump insulting female reporters, including another of him telling Collins that she "never smiles," and the infamous moment when he told Bloomberg News reporter Catherine Lucey, "quiet, piggy" aboard Air Force One.
"I don’t know why I’m surprised by this. I shouldn’t be," Cooper said as he spoke with journalist Tara Palmeri. "It's just bizarre that this is something he does over and over and over again. I mean, and I think people do it to women all the time."
"What you are seeing is a day in the life of a woman," Palmeri stated. "She's a powerful woman, and he’s objectifying her, and he’s using a misogynistic comment about her appearance to belittle her."
Collins started her career as an entertainment reporter before becoming a White House correspondent.
Cooper summed up the hypocrisy of the situation, saying: "It's incredible to watch an entire press corps of men who are not smiling, standing around the president, asking him questions, looking very glum, and it’s the women he focuses on to belittle and besmirch."
Collins began her career as an entertainment reporter before joining the Daily Caller as a White House correspondent.
Collins moved to CNN in 2017 to cover the first Trump administration.
