Kaitlan Collins didn’t back down when Donald Trump challenged her right to report outside the United Nations on Tuesday. The CNN chief White House correspondent fired back with a seven-word reply that went viral. This turned a press moment into another flashpoint between the president and the network he is trying to shut out of official coverage.
Donald Trump questions Kaitlan Collins during UN visit
The president traveled to New York City to address the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. As he approached the UN entrance, Kaitlan Collins called out a question drawn from new CNN polling: “Two-thirds of Americans don’t think the U.S. is winning the war with Iran. When will it end?”
Donald Trump stopped and questioned why the network had sent her at all. “I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me. You shouldn’t be here!” he said. Collins answered: “The United Nations allowed us in, sir.” The president pressed on, telling her, “You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering me.” He then left the press scrum without answering her question about Iran.
The UN visit came days after Donald Trump announced on September 18 that he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House “effective immediately,” repeating his long-standing claim that they publish “fake news.” Staffers from all three outlets lost their press badges on Saturday.
On Monday, the three organizations sued Trump and three White House officials, arguing the ban violates the First Amendment and “brazenly discriminates based on editorial viewpoint.” The same day, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, and Fox News, which share White House TV pool duties with CNN, suspended their own coverage of White House events to protest the ban.
For now, Collins’ calm seven-word reply stands as the most-shared moment from a UN visit already steeped in press-freedom controversy.
