President Donald Trump turned a routine White House press session into a full-scale confrontation Wednesday, targeting CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins with a string of personal attacks before she uttered a single word — all while the fate of a controversial $1.8 billion government fund hung in the balance.
The fireworks erupted during an Oval Office question-and-answer session that was supposed to address Trump’s so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund, a Department of Justice initiative born from a legal settlement with the Internal Revenue Service.
Trump did not wait for Collins to speak before going on offense.
Standing in the same room as the CNN anchor, the President branded her network a corrupt institution and her personally as a reporter driven by animosity.
“CNN is a very corrupt organization, with a corrupt reporter standing right there, never smiles,” Trump said.
He kept his focus on Collins. “She’s a young, beautiful woman, never smiles,” Trump continued. “I never see a smile on her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes.”
The fund at the center of the dispute traces back to Trump’s first term, when a government contractor illegally leaked his tax returns.
Trump later settled a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, and the resulting agreement produced a $1.776 billion pot of money earmarked for Americans who claimed the federal government had targeted them unjustly.
Some January 6 Capitol riot defendants were identified as potential recipients of the fund, a detail that ignited outrage across the political spectrum. Members of both parties condemned it, with critics calling it a financial vehicle designed to benefit Trump’s political allies.
A federal district judge stepped in last week, ordering the administration to halt any further action on the fund.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche then appeared before the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday and delivered a blunt declaration. “We are not moving forward with the fund. Period,” Blanche told the panel.
Trump had gone unusually quiet following his own attorney general’s announcement. Collins seized on the silence and went directly at the President. “Is the $1.8 billion DOJ fund dead, or is it on hold?” she asked during the Wednesday session.
Trump offered no firm answer. “I’d have to ask the lawyers. I don’t know,” he said, before adding: “The weaponization fund, as far as I’m concerned, was a beautiful thing.”
The President then redirected toward the press, blaming media organizations for what he described as systematic mistreatment of American citizens.
“People like you have abused our people so badly,” Trump said. “The fake news, like CNN, like the New York Times, and like others, have abused our people.”
Collins moved to respond. Trump cut her off immediately. “Wait a minute, be quiet,” he said.
He then pivoted to her background, noting she had conservative roots before joining CNN. “You should be ashamed of yourself. You used to be a conservative, she was a conservative from Alabama. Can you believe it?”
CNN’s new ownership came up as well. “CNN does such false reporting, but now they have new ownership, so maybe it’ll straighten it out,” Trump said. “I doubt it, but it’s hard to straighten garbage out.”
Trump then turned to January 6, 2021, describing the crowd that assembled in Washington that day as enormous and their march to the Capitol as motivated by affection for the country.
He said the participants were “great people” who faced devastating consequences afterward, claiming a number of them died by suicide following the legal fallout.
Collins attempted to follow up. Trump spoke over her again. “Wait a minute, let me finish, let me finish, let me finish,” he said. He closed the exchange with a direct insult aimed at the CNN anchor: “There’s something wrong with you.”
Wednesday’s clash is the latest chapter in a lengthy and combative relationship.
Collins joined CNN’s White House team in 2017 and established herself early as an aggressive questioner of the administration.
Trump gradually began targeting her publicly, a pattern that mirrored his earlier battles with CNN’s Jim Acosta, whom he once called “the most unprofessional individual.”
By May 2023, Trump was calling Collins “a nasty person” during a CNN town hall in New Hampshire.
Attacks continued into his second term, including a December 2025 social media post mocking her and a February 2026 public complaint that she does not smile enough.
CNN has repeatedly stood behind its anchor throughout the sustained criticism from the President.
