Trump lobbed the cliché insult at CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins after she pressed him about the latest release of Jeffrey Epstein’s files, pointing out that his allies Elon Musk and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared in the documents.

Trump ignored her first questions, but the mention of Musk and Lutnick seemed to anger him.

“You’re the worst reporter. No wonder CNN has no ratings because of people like you,” Trump said.

“You know, she’s a young woman,” he told the others in the room before turning his attention back to Collins.

CNN's Donald Trump and Kaitlan Collins
CNN’s Donald Trump and Kaitlan Collins

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“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile,” he scolded. “I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face. Do you know why you’re not smiling? Because you know you’re not telling the truth.”

CNN “should be ashamed of you,” he added.

A spokesperson for the network praised Collins’ work after the exchange with Trump:

“Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with true depth and tenacity. She deftly brings that reporting to the anchor chair and to CNN’s platforms every day, which audiences around the world know they can trust.”

The incident was not the first time Trump targeted Collins. In December, she became the subject of one of his Truth Social rants after she asked him about the rising cost estimates for his $400 million White House ballroom project.

“Fake News CNN’s Caitlin Collin, always stupid and obnoxious, asked me why the new ballroom was costing more money than originally thought a year ago,” Trump wrote, misspelling her name.

And in answering a question from Collins last year, Trump referred to her as a “very low-rated anchor.”

Trump’s disputes with Collins go back even further. During her first term in 2018, the White House banned her from attending an open press event shortly after she peppered him with questions about her former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Collins said White House press staff told her her questions were “inappropriate.” Then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement saying Collins was banned from the event because he screamed and refused to leave the Oval Office.