President Donald Trump criticized CNN host Kaitlan Collins’ journalism award during his speech at Friday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, calling the honor “fake” even as he offered what appeared to be congratulations.
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Collins was honored with the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure for her reporting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s 2025 visit to the Oval Office.
During his remarks, Trump said: “I want to personally congratulate CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award. It was all about me. It was a fake, she shouldn’t get the award, it was a fake. But I didn’t mind. I said, ‘Kaitlan, congratulations.’ But it was fake, there’s no question about it.”
On Monday, during an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Collins addressed Trump’s criticism of both her award and his previous personal attacks on her appearance and demeanor.
Trump has previously criticized Collins for not smiling enough and compared her appearance to transgender singer Dylan Mulvaney.
“It’s not really about me and I don’t want it to be about my reaction,” Collins told Stewart. “I think if you let it become about that, then it becomes a back-and-forth between the two of us.”
Collins said it was “more effective” to focus on the substance of her journalism rather than Trump’s personal attacks. “When he is insulting me or when he is criticizing me about the question I asked or the reporting that I did, that he was so angry about in this moment—it’s important to put the reminder back on the work, and the question and the non-answers we get,” she said.
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She noted that Trump’s reaction to her award was telling. “The fact that I got an award for it really bothered him clearly,” Collins said.
President Donald Trump has a well-documented history of attacking female journalists, often focusing on their appearance rather than their reporting. The pattern intensified during his first term and has continued into his second presidency.
Trump has repeatedly criticized women reporters for their looks, demeanor, and perceived bias, often in demeaning terms. In addition to his comments about Collins, Trump has targeted numerous female journalists over the years, including Mika Brzezinski, Megyn Kelly, and others, frequently making personal attacks unrelated to their journalism.
Media watchdog groups have noted that Trump’s attacks on women journalists often differ significantly from his criticism of male reporters, with personal appearance and tone becoming focal points rather than editorial content or questioning style.
The strategy appears designed to delegitimize critical coverage by focusing on the messenger rather than the message. By attacking journalists personally, particularly women, critics argue Trump attempts to undermine their credibility and distract from substantive questions about his administration’s policies and actions.
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