PoliticsKaitlan Collins Exposes Donald Trump's Lie About CNN Ban: 'We've Never Said That'
Kaitlan Collins issued Donald Trump a fact-check after he lashed out at her for questioning him at a UN summit post CNN-ban.
Sept. 23 2026, Published 1:48 p.m. ET
CNN star Kaitlan Collins issued a brutal fact-check of Donald Trump after he lashed out at her for questioning him at the UN General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday, September 22, amid his media ban.
Collins set the record straight on Anderson Cooper's show later that night, explaining, “The president himself was saying something that CNN has never asserted about not covering him. We’ve never said that.”
“The president is the one who’s trying to dictate how we cover him,” she noted. “And of course, it is still our job to do so.”
'You Should Not Be Here'
Kaitlan Collins corrected Donald Trump's claims, stating that CNN never said they weren't going to cover him.
She was responding to a tense encounter earlier that day at the UN, when Trump spotted Collins and told her, "I'm surprised that CNN is here covering me. You should not be here covering me. You said you weren't going to cover me.”
Because the United Nations independently credentials reporters, the White House ban did not prevent Collins or other barred outlets from covering Trump's appearances at the UN global summit.
The confrontation follows a massive standoff between the Trump administration and the press.
Donald Trump's Media Ban
Donald Trump banned CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House.
On Friday, September 18, Trump announced an "effective immediately" ban revoking White House press credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
The three news organizations filed a joint federal lawsuit on Monday, September 21, arguing that the ban unconstitutionally violates the First Amendment. A federal hearing regarding an emergency temporary restraining order is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, September 23.
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Kaitlan Collins got press access through the UN.
“There seems to be a reality inside the administration that this ban is not going to have legal muster and legal standing when it comes to a judge evaluating it tomorrow, and that likely things will return to the way they were before the president announced this on Friday,” Collins told Cooper.
In protest of the administration's restrictions, major television networks (including ABC, CBS, NBC and Trump-friendly Fox News) suspended their pooled White House coverage of the president.
“So it is affecting the coverage of the president and the way that he likes to see it, which is broadcast on television, and in these key moments where he’s speaking with world leaders and answering questions from reporters,” Collins said.
'We Appreciate the Solidarity'
Cory Booker was outraged over the way Donald Trump 'disrespected' the CNN star.
Collins further elaborated on Trump’s unprecedented attack on the media during an interview later on her own show with New Jersey’s Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, who told Collins, “The way the president disrespected you should outrage all Americans. In a war against the First Amendment and the press, consider this a unifying thing for our country in defending CNN and, frankly, the kind of treatment that you endured today.”
Collins replied, “Well, obviously, we do appreciate the solidarity from our colleagues because I think the point that we’ve made during this is that if it can happen to CNN, it can happen to any other outlet.”
Following her remarks, Collins was once again attacked by Trump, who posted a late night Truth Social rant accusing her of having a "TRUMP addiction."
