PoliticsCNN Star Kaitlan Collins Responds to Donald Trump Shading Her at White House Correspondents' Dinner With Cryptic Post
Donald Trump slammed Kaitlan Collins in his WHCD speech on July 24.
July 26 2026, Published 11:37 a.m. ET
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins hit back at Donald Trump on her social media after he criticized her at the White House Correspondents' Dinner event that went down on Friday, July 24.
The journalist, 34, took to her Instagram Stories a day later and posted a famous quote from former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Kaitlan Collins Posted a Quote Once Said by Eleanor Roosevelt
Kaitlan Collins clapped back at the POTUS on July 25.
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent," Collins wrote.
Trump, 80, flamed the reporter in his speech at the lavish banquet that took place at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, D.C.
She also received the Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure award during the evening.
Donald Trump Bashed Both Kaitlan Collins and Dylan Mulvaney in His Speech
Donald Trump 'congratulated' Kaitlan Collins on her award at the dinner event on Friday evening.
“I want to personally congratulate CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award. It was all about me. It’s a fake — she shouldn’t get the award, it was a fake,” the politician rambled in his hour-long address. “But I don’t mind, I said, ‘Kaitlan, congratulations.’ But it was fake, there’s no question about it.”
“[Collins is] a young, attractive woman. She never smiles,” Trump fumed. “I said, ‘Kaitlan, do you ever smile? Smile. You have a nice position, you’re at CNN fake news, you should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan, just smile.”
- 'It's Not a Laughing Matter': CNN's Kaitlan Collins Slams Donald Trump After Being Called 'Worst Reporter' for Question About Epstein Survivors
- CNN's Kaitlan Collins Reveals What She Thought of Donald Trump's 'Smile' Insult
- Megyn Kelly Rips Apart 'Ill-Equipped' Kaitlan Collins for 'Train Wreck' Donald Trump Town Hall: 'It Failed on Every Front'
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
Donald Trump also slammed Dylan Mulvaney in his scathing address.
Trump then compared Collins to trans activist Dylan Mulvaney, whose 2023 campaign with beer brand Bud Light was criticized by right-wing politicians.
“I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney," he said. “Dylan Mulvaney cost Bud Light $35 billion in market cap. That was the worst commercial ever made, by the way, for those few people that want to hear that."
"Most people don’t care, but I would. I wouldn’t want to hire Dylan anytime soon. Think of it. They hired Dylan Mulvaney, and their market cap has gone down by $35 billion. Who wrote that commercial?" he droned on.
Dylan Mulvaney Also Shared the Same Quote on Her Social Media
'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent,' Kaitlan Collins' Instagram Story read.
Mulvaney, 29, also seemed to reposed to Trump's comments when she reposted Collins' Roosevelt quote on her own social media page.
CNN also backed Collins and told OK! in a statement on July 25: “Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional, trusted journalist being honored tonight for her depth of knowledge and the context she provides to audiences all over the world. She reports every day from the White House and the field with real strength and tenacity and skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day. We stand by her to the fullest extent.”
