President Donald Trump used an interview with Time magazine published Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, to launch a fresh personal attack on CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, 34, as he defended his September decision to throw three news organizations out of the White House.
Trump, 80, revoked the White House credentials of CNN, MS NOW and Politico in September, accusing the outlets of reporting lies about him. In a Sept. 21 post on Truth Social, the president said his administration was mounting an assault on coverage he considers fake, calling it corrupt, coordinated and a threat to national security.
A Tirade Aimed at a CNN Anchor
Pressed on the ban, Trump launched into a broader complaint about his press coverage, insisting he could rattle off 100 accomplishments and still never be treated fairly. “I don’t think anybody should be forced to bear fake news, constantly bad stories, because I’ve done great things,” he said.
He then singled out the CNN anchor by name. “So at a certain point, you say, ‘What’s the purpose of like this crazy Kaitlan Collins?'” he continued.
“She’s a very average person. She’s the most unhappy young person I’ve ever seen,” Trump said. “If I did something spectacular by any standard, and they would write about it, they will only write badly.”
Moments later, the president veered away from his interviewers, who had been trying to steer the conversation toward the war in Iran, and into an unprompted defense of the crowds at his recent appearances. He said he drew heavy applause in Duncan and had warned supporters there not to believe accounts that he was booed, which he denied. He also pointed to his reception in Tennessee and to a golf event in Chicago.
A Lawsuit and a Judge’s Order
The ban triggered an outcry across the news industry and condemnation from the three outlets, which filed a joint lawsuit on Sept. 21 arguing that the move violated the First Amendment and their right to due process.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, blocked the ban in a humiliating setback for the president. On Sept. 23, the court ordered the administration to return the three outlets’ press passes immediately.
CNN said after the ban that its journalists would keep scrutinizing the administration and reporting on its actions regardless of the pressure. A network spokesperson called Collins an exceptional and trusted journalist and said: “We stand by her to the fullest extent.”
A Long-Running Feud With Collins
Trump and Collins have clashed repeatedly since he returned to the White House in January 2025. At the United Nations in September, days after the ban took effect, Collins asked the president when he expected the war with Iran to end. He replied that he was surprised the network was covering him at all, then turned to the anchor. “You should not be here covering me,” Trump told her.
In February, speaking from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Trump told Collins he had never seen her smile in the 10 years he had known her, and said the reason was that she was not telling the truth. She had been asking him a question related to Jeffrey Epstein. The president has returned to the same complaint about the anchor more than once during his second term.
Critics See an Authoritarian Playbook
Trump’s broadsides against his critics have alarmed scholars of democracy. Steven Levitsky, a Harvard professor of government and co-author of “How Democracies Die,” said floating conspiracy claims is an opening move for repressive leaders and is nearly always deployed to justify crackdowns. Julian Zelizer, a Princeton historian, said Trump absorbed from his mentor, the right-wing lawyer Roy Cohn, the lesson that unfounded claims about shadowy enemies can rally the public and make him look like the aggrieved party rather than the accused.
Even with the judge’s temporary block in place, CNN has been barred from covering the president’s trip to Texas and Oklahoma. The escalation of his fight with the news media comes weeks before the 2026 midterm elections.