President Donald Trump could barely contain his anger after spotting a familiar face he didn’t expect to see.
As Trump walked into the United Nations headquarters building in New York on Tuesday with First Lady Melania Trump, he happily greeted reporters, then stopped in his tracks.
He saw a CNN reporter he had banned from the White House.
CNN anchor and chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins was among reporters waiting for him.
Collins, who was credentialed by the U.N. to cover the meeting, yelled a question at the president as he walked by.
“Mr. President, two-thirds of Americans, two-thirds of Americans don’t think the U.S. is winning the war with Iran. When will it end?”
Trump stopped in front of the press and immediately pointed out CNN’s presence, questioning why Collins was there.
“It’s an honor to be here. I’m surprised CNN is here covering me. You shouldn’t be here. You should not be here covering me,” an angry Trump said, trying to dress down Collins.
Then he falsely claimed, “You said you weren’t gonna cover me. You shouldn’t be covering me.”
“But I will tell you, it is an honor to be at the United Nations and we’re making a lot of progress. Our country is doing really, really well,” he said.
Millions of Americans are struggling to afford basics like food and rent. They’ve lost their healthcare coverage and are trying to keep up with soaring prices at the pumps.
Collins, who is always quick on her feet, shot back, “The United Nations allowed us in, sir.”
“You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering me,” he said, sounding like a broken record.
But Collins was persistent: “Two-thirds of Americans think the U.S. is not winning the war with Iran. When will it end?” An agitated Trump put up his hands and walked away.
The exchange follows Trump’s White House ban on three news outlets, CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which he announced Friday. By the next day, journalists with all three outlets could no longer access the grounds.
Social media erupted in anger, pointing out Trump’s ongoing problem with women journalists asking him tough questions.
“The most powerful snowflake in the world can’t handle one woman with a microphone. Loses his sh-t every single time,” an X user noted.
Another pointed out the obvious, which Trump apparently doesn’t understand.
“He can’t ban them from covering media events in the entire world. Jeez.”
The White House may bar the three outlets, but they can still cover Trump at other events.
This commenter observed, “He is so intimidated by Kaitlan Collins, it’s embarrassing.”
Trump has sparred with Collins before. As he’s known to do with women, he’s pointed out her appearance on several occasions, accusing her of “never smiling.” And at the postponed White House Correspondents’ Dinner, he quipped that he had mistaken her for transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Another poster simply said, “What a petty man he is.”
After Trump banned the three, including CNN, which is one of five networks that handle TV pool coverage on the president, the others decided to opt out too.
Trump didn’t anticipate that all the other networks, including his favorite Fox News, would band together in solidarity and boycott White House pool coverage. They’re still covering Trump and the administration, just not White House events.
The networks, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC refused to provide replacement crews when it was CNN’s turn to lead the pool. Instead, they said the public is entitled to accurate, independent information without illegal government restrictions.
Trump implemented the ban on the three because he said he didn’t like their “negative” coverage of him, a move clearly illegal under the U.S. Constitution.
The three outlets posted a joint statement on X Monday, accusing Trump of violating the First Amendment.
“This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” they said according to The Associated Press.
“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” they added.
A hearing on the case is set for Wednesday.
