President Donald Trump used his Truth Social account on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, to brand CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins “very dumb and unhappy” and to air a grievance about a panel discussion on her program. CNN is standing behind its anchor.
“Very dumb and unhappy Fake News CNN ‘reporter,’ Kaitlan Collins (really low ratings, also!), had a panel where discussions were all FICTION AND LIES,” Trump, 80, wrote in the post.
A network faring as badly as CNN in the television ratings, he went on, ought to cut loose what he called its “3rd rate ‘anchors’” and set about restoring the credibility of an outlet he described as once storied and now fading fast. His sign-off: “See you all at the Republican National Convention tomorrow night!!! President DJT” — a nod to the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas, where he spoke on Wednesday, September 9.
The president pointed to no particular segment, and Collins’ most recent broadcast at that point had carried more than one panel discussion.
What Collins’ Show Aired
Collins, 34, had anchored a special “Countdown to Election Night” edition of “The Source” on Monday, September 7, with November’s midterm elections in view. Joining her on one panel were Republican strategist Doug Heye, New York Times reporter Shawn McCreesh, NOTUS correspondent Jasmine Wright and Ashley Etienne, a former communications director to then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Heye faulted the president for keeping his political war chest to himself rather than steering it toward Republican candidates, and said Trump expects the party’s contenders to earn any help they get. McCreesh told Collins he had been at a Trump rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a stop where Trump threw his support behind Sen. Darline Graham’s bid in the Republican primary runoff. The crowd was subdued, by his account, and the rear half of the convention center went unfilled even as the seats up front were taken.
A second panel filled out the same hour: CNN political director David Chalian; Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist who appears on the network as a political commentator; and Kevin Madden, a former adviser to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns. Their subject was the administration’s handling of affordability. Collins played clips of Trump declaring the economy the greatest the country has ever had, then pointed to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in which 71 percent of Americans said they disapproved of the way he was managing cost-of-living concerns.
Chalian argued that the president can say whatever he likes about the economy, but that voters ultimately cast ballots based on what they feel in their own pocketbooks, which leaves presidential messaging on the subject largely noise. Begala said inflation cannot be spun away and has proved politically fatal for past presidents, naming Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter.
CNN Backs Its Anchor
In a statement, a CNN spokesperson said Collins is “an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity.” She carries that reporting into the anchor chair and onto CNN’s platforms daily, the spokesperson added, and audiences around the world know they can trust it.
Collins had not publicly responded to the post as of September 10 — the same approach she has taken to previous broadsides from the president, a man she covers at the White House and questions in the Oval Office.
Reporters He Has Gone After Before
Collins has been a repeat target. A Truth Social post in December 2025 called her “stupid” and “nasty.” In June 2026, he described her as a “corrupt reporter” with “hatred in her eyes,” faulting her for supposedly never smiling. He picked the theme back up at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in July, saying Collins never smiles and telling her to do so.
Jon Stewart, host of “The Daily Show,” asked her about that moment in July. Collins said she prefers to redirect attention to her questions and the answers she does not get. “It’s not really about me and I don’t want it to be about my reaction,” she told Stewart, adding that engaging would only turn the exchange into a back-and-forth between the two of them.
Other women covering the administration have drawn the president’s ire as well. In November 2025, as Bloomberg News White House correspondent Catherine Lucey pressed him on the Jeffrey Epstein files, Trump called her “piggy” and cut her off before she could finish a follow-up question. Last month, a routine Oval Office question from CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes cost him his temper. In late August, he turned on New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman over her reporting that he planned to skip the Ground Zero memorial service, calling her a “SCAMMER” and demanding the paper retract the story. The Times declined, saying its reporting rested on “information from multiple people with knowledge of the discussions and planning around New York’s Sept. 11 ceremony.” Trump did not attend the September 11 ceremony in New York City, sending Vice President JD Vance in his place.
