Trump Attacks Journalists at White House Correspondents' Dinner, Mocking CNN's Kaitlan Collins

At the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, rescheduled after an assassination attempt earlier that month, President Trump used his first-ever attendance as president to launch gendered and misogynistic attacks on female journalists. He mocked CNN's Kaitlan Collins — who had won an award for her Zelenskyy Oval Office coverage — telling her to 'smile' and dismissing her work as 'fake.' He also called incoming WHCA president Jacqui Heinrich 'nasty.' The speech continued Trump's pattern of bullying women and dissenters, and he flirted with power beyond constitutional limits by joking about running for a fourth term.

“I said Kaitlan, do you ever smile? Smile. You have a nice position. You are at CNN Fake News. You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan, just smile.” — Direct address to Kaitlan Collins from the podium at the WHCD, after criticizing her award-winning coverage of the Zelenskyy Oval Office meeting. Quote verified against source