CNN is standing behind chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins after President Donald Trump used his Truth Social account on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, to call the anchor “very dumb and unhappy” and to complain about a panel discussion on her program.
“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.
He went on to argue that a network struggling as badly as CNN in the television ratings ought to be cutting loose what he called its “3rd rate ‘anchors'” and working to restore the credibility of an outlet he described as once storied and now fading fast. He signed off: “See you all at the Republican National Convention tomorrow night!!! President DJT” — a reference to the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas, where he spoke on Wednesday, September 9.
Trump did not specify which segment he was objecting to, and Collins’ most recent broadcast at that point had carried more than one panel discussion.
What Aired on Collins’ Show
On Monday, September 7, Collins, 34, hosted a special “Countdown to Election Night” edition of “The Source” ahead of November’s midterm elections. One panel brought together 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 instead of 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. By his account, the crowd was subdued and the rear half of the convention center went unfilled even as the seats up front were taken.
The same hour included a second panel: David Chalian, CNN’s political director; 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. That segment focused on 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, making 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 Defends Its Anchor
A CNN spokesperson said in a statement that Collins is “an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity.” The spokesperson added that she carries that reporting into the anchor chair and onto CNN’s platforms daily, and that audiences around the world know they can trust it.
As of September 10, Collins had not publicly responded to the post. That silence is consistent with how she has handled previous broadsides from the president, whom she covers at the White House and questions in the Oval Office.
A Pattern of Attacks on Reporters
Trump has singled out Collins repeatedly. In a Truth Social post in December 2025, he 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. At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in July, he returned to the theme, saying Collins never smiles and telling her to do so.
Asked about that moment by Jon Stewart, host of “The Daily Show,” 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.
She is not the only woman covering the administration to draw the president’s ire. In November 2025, Trump called Bloomberg News White House correspondent Catherine Lucey “piggy” as she pressed him on the Jeffrey Epstein files, cutting her off before she could finish a follow-up question. Last month he lost his temper with CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes over a routine question in the Oval Office. 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 was due to close the Dallas convention again on Thursday, September 10, after speaking there the previous night. The CNN spokesperson’s statement stood as the network’s public answer to the post, and Collins’ program continues its run-up to the November elections.