CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins is taking the high road after being publicly targeted by Donald Trump at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Following a dinner where the former president told the 34-year-old anchor to “smile more” and dismissed her recent journalism award as “fake,” Collins spoke out about the encounter, emphasizing her commitment to the First Amendment over engaging in a petty back-and-forth.
The “Fake” Award and the Command to Smile
The friction sparked on Friday night, shortly after Collins was honored with the 2026 WHCA award for broadcast journalism. The accolade recognized her rigorous coverage of Trump’s February 2025 meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Taking the stage, Trump used his speech to directly undermine her achievement.
“She shouldn’t get the award,” Trump announced to the room. “It was a fake, but I didn’t mind.”
He didn’t stop at her professional credentials, pivoting to critique her demeanor. “She never smiles. 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.”
“This is Just a Bigger Venue”
Rather than firing back during the dinner, Collins kept her composure. On Monday night, she appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to address the viral moment.
Collins revealed that Trump’s behavior didn’t shock her—what shocked her was the audience’s reaction.
“This happens pretty regularly inside the Oval Office,” Collins explained to Stewart. “This is just a bigger venue where it was happening. What was most surprising to me was the room was filled with a lot of his staffers, his cabinet, his allies, Republicans in Congress. It was so quiet.”
When Stewart playfully asked if the room’s silence was out of respect, Collins dryly replied, “Who’s to say.”
She also shed light on why she chose to remain stoic in the face of the public mockery. “I’ve always felt this, regardless of who’s the president, it’s really not about me and I don’t want it to be about me. If you let it become about that, then it becomes a back and forth between the two of us.”
Defending the First Amendment
While she avoided a direct confrontation at the dinner, Collins later took to Instagram to share her final thoughts on the evening.
She posted a famous quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
In her caption, the CNN anchor redirected the narrative back to her profession, writing that the best part of the evening was reminding everyone why the First Amendment—and the duty of journalists to ask uncomfortable questions—truly matters.
Trump’s Other Target: Dylan Mulvaney
Collins wasn’t the only public figure in Trump’s crosshairs that night. The former president also took aim at transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney. In a bizarre pivot, Trump compared Mulvaney to Collins while referencing the 2023 Bud Light sponsorship controversy, falsely claiming Mulvaney had cost the brand $35 billion in market cap.
Like Collins, Mulvaney refused to let the jabs rattle her. She responded with a four-minute TikTok video, stating that being mocked by the administration was “the greatest compliment of all” because it placed her “in the company of some of the most brilliant, empathetic people in our world today.”