President Donald Trump targeted CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins during his White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech, making the event awkward for attendees.
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During his lengthy event speech, the world leader directed his attention to Collins after she received an award for her coverage of his conflict with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February 2025.
“I want to personally congratulate CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award,” he said. “It was all about me. It’s a fake — she shouldn’t receive 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.”
The president then made comments about Collins’ appearance.
“She’s a young, attractive woman. She never smiles. I said, ‘Kaitlan, do you ever smile? Smile. You have a nice position; you’re at CNN fake news; you should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan, just smile.’”
Trump then attempted to make a joke about Collins by comparing her to transgender actress Dylan Mulvaney in her Bud Light ad campaign, which led to the president’s supporters, including his longtime ally Kid Rock, publicly boycotting the beverage brand and its parent company, Anheuser-Busch.
“I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship,” he said. “But then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney.”
Trump continued his joke by stating, “Dylan Mulvaney cost Bud Light $35 billion in market cap. That was the worst commercial ever made, by the way, for those few people who want to hear that. Most people don’t care, but I would. I wouldn’t want to hire Dylan any time soon.”
“Think of it, they hired Dylan Mulvaney and their market cap has gone down by $35 billion,” he then added. “Who wrote that commercial?”
Mulvaney Speaks Out After Trump’s Attacks on Collins
Following Trump’s comments about her and Collins, Mulvaney took to social media to speak out.
In her recent post, Mulvaney shared a quote that reads, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Collins also broke her silence about Trump’s speech by sharing a quote and two photos of herself with CNN colleague Wolf Blitzer, who had presented her with her award.
“The second best part of last night’s White House Correspondents Dinner was receiving an award from my friend and mentor, @wolfblitzer,” she wrote. “The first was reminding everyone why the First Amendment — and asking uncomfortable questions that people in power don’t like — matters.”
Trump has since doubled down on his comments about Collins by posting a photoshopped image of her face on Mulvaney’s body while holding a Bud Light beer.