President Donald Trump turned the White House Correspondents’ Dinner into a shocking personal attack on CNN's Kaitlan Collins on July 24, 2026, the latest in a series of remarks about the news anchor's appearance and work from the Commander-in-Chief.
Kaitlan, 34, was honored at the dinner for her coverage of the February 2025 meeting between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, after Kaitlan accepted her award, Trump, 80, took to the stage for a rambling speech during which he claimed Kaitlan's story was "fake," before turning his attention to her appearance, describing the journalist as a "young, attractive woman" and claiming "she never smiles."
© AFP via Getty ImagesThe annual event had been rescheduled from April when a gunman entered the venue, prompting security to rush Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, off stage.
Comparisons to Dylan Mulvaney
© AFP via Getty ImagesTrump's speech then turned even more personal when he compared Kaitlan to trans celebrity Dylan Mulvaney, a moment that led to uncomfortable silence throughout the ballroom.
"I said, 'Kaitlan, do you have a smile? Smile.' You have a nice position. You're at CNN fake news. You should be a happy person, so smile, Kaitlan, just smile," he said.
"I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her that it wasn't her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney."
Kaitlin's response
© Kaitlan CollinsThe cameras during the Correspondent's Dinner were unable to capture Kaitlan's response to the comments, but her colleague Wolf Blitzer was seen looking back at her throughout the remarks.
White House Correspondents' Association President Weijia Jiang took the microphone after Trump, and directly defended Kaitlan, noting to the crowd that the news anchor has "a beautiful smile".
On July 25, Kaitlan responded by recalling the importance of the First Amendment.
© Getty Images"The second best part of last night’s White House Correspondents Dinner was receiving an award from my friend and mentor, @wolfblitzer," she quipped in a caption on Instagram. "The first was reminding everyone why the First Amendment — and asking uncomfortable questions that people in power don’t like — matters."
A CNN statement read: "Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional, trusted journalist being honored tonight for her depth of knowledge and the context she provides to audiences all over the world."
"She reports every day from the White House and the field with real strength and tenacity and skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day. We stand by her to the fullest extent."
Trump's former comments
© Getty ImagesIt's not the first time Trump has tried to criticize the journalist; in February, during a meeting with press in the Oval Office, she asked the commander-in-chief about the Jeffrey Epstein files.
In response, he turned to her and said: "You are so bad. You know, you are the worst reporter. No wonder... CNN has no ratings because of people like you.
"You know, she’s a young woman… I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face."
Dylan's Bud Light campaign
© Dylan MulvaneyIn 2023, internet personality Dylan – along with many other celebrities – collaborated with Bud Light. However, it was her campaign that was amplified by far-right figures and politicians, leading to boycotts of Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch.
The Republican Party has made anti-trans attacks and policies a central part of their messaging in recent years.
Market cap claims
Trump continued his speech, forgetting about Kaitlan to pivot to the three-year-old Bud Light campaign, claiming that "Dylan Mulvaney cost Bud Light $35 billion in market cap."
"That was the worst commercial ever made, by the way, for those few people that want to hear that. Most people don't care, but I would," he said. "I wouldn't want to hire Dylan anytime soon. Think of it. They hired Dylan Mulvaney and their market cap has gone down by $35 billion. Who wrote that commercial?"
The partnership was not a commercial but a one-off sponsored social media post.
Anheuser-Busch's market cap dropped by almost $30 billion in the two months after the controversy, however MacroTrends estimates that the market cap has risen by almost $60 billion in the last 18 months.
