Donald Trump tried to swat away a question he didn’t want to answer, then went after the reporter who asked it. Kaitlan Collins made sure the record didn’t stay crooked for long.
The president jumped onto Truth Social on Saturday with a familiar burst of anger, calling the CNN anchor “always Stupid and Nasty” while misspelling her name in the process. He insisted Collins had confronted him about why his planned White House ballroom was running over budget during their brief red-carpet exchange at the Kennedy Center a night earlier.
Collins answered without theatrics. Posting a screenshot of his rant to Instagram, she wrote: “Technically my question was about Venezuela.” One line, perfectly aimed.
Trump’s ballroom project—first pitched at $200 million and already climbing toward $300 million—has been floating around since July. Collins did mention the price hike on her show Friday, but when she approached Trump that evening, she wasn’t asking about renovations. She pressed him on whether it made sense for him to be nominated for FIFA’s brand-new “peace prize” while he’s openly threatening war with Venezuela and ordering military strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean, strikes critics say amount to war crimes.
Trump dodged entirely. Instead, he rolled out a familiar self-praise monologue: “I can tell you I did settle eight wars and we have a ninth coming. I want to really save lives. I don’t need prizes. I need to save lives.” It echoed the same pitch that failed to land him a Nobel Peace Prize this year—though it didn’t stop FIFA, led by Trump ally Gianni Infantino, from handing him a freshly invented honor later that night.
His swipe at Collins also fits a now-routine pattern. Just weeks ago, Trump sparked outrage after telling Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey to “be quiet, piggy.” This time, he fired at Collins and missed—only to have her calmly, publicly, and accurately fire back.
