Trump attacks – In the Oval Office on Wednesday, June 3, President Donald Trump escalated his latest attack on CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, calling CNN “crooked as hell,” dubbing her “corrupt,” and telling her to “be quiet” when she tried to interject during discussion of his
President Donald Trump’s latest clash with CNN played out in front of reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, June 3.
It began right after he responded to a question about the “anti-weaponization fund,” which he called “a beautiful thing.” Within minutes, Trump turned on CNN itself—then singled out Kaitlan Collins, the network’s anchor and Chief White House Correspondent.
Trump berated CNN as “crooked as hell” and “a very corrupt organization,” saying Collins was standing there as “a corrupt reporter.” He added, “Never smiles. She’s a young, beautiful woman (who) never smiles. I’ve never seen a smile off her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes.”
When asked why Collins’s alleged “hatred” existed, Trump connected it to his policies and electoral victory. He said it was “because we have borders. because we have a strong military. because we cut our taxes. because we do things that everybody wanted. and then we win our election in a massive landslide.”.
The president’s focus returned to the “anti-weaponization fund” again—this time widening to include The New York Times—accusing the media outlets of abusing “our people so badly.” When Collins attempted to interject, Trump cut her off, telling her to “be quiet.”
“You used to be a conservative,” he said to Collins. “She was a conservative from Alabama. Can you believe it?” Trump also suggested changing CNN’s ownership to “straighten it out,” while adding that it might not work because “it’s so hard to straighten garbage out.”
CNN responded with a statement defending its correspondent. The network said Kaitlan Collins is “an exceptional journalist. reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity.” It added that she “skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day. which audiences around the world know they can trust.”.
The “anti-weaponization fund” and why it matters right now
Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund” is designed to offer up to $1.776 billion to what it described as “victims of lawfare and weaponization. ” including individuals convicted of assaulting police officers during the 2021 riot at the Capitol. The program drew widespread condemnation and sparked a standoff between the White House and Congress.
Its status has been uncertain since the Justice Department appeared to retreat from the initiative on June 1. When asked whether the Trump administration was dropping efforts, the Department said it would abide by a court ruling that put a temporary pause on the fund.
That pause has left the scheme in limbo even as Trump continued to raise it in the Oval Office conversation with reporters.
The rhythm of these attacks is not new
Wednesday’s incident was not the first time Trump has gone after Collins or CNN for their reporting on his administration.
Collins, who is 34, has frequently sparred with Trump. During his first administration, she was even banned from a White House event, according to previous reporting. In February. Trump criticized Collins for “not smiling” at him after she raised a question about files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. During an exchange in the Oval Office on Feb. 3, Trump told Collins: “You are the worst reporter.” He also said, “CNN has no ratings because of people like you.”.
Trump continued, saying he believed Collins wasn’t smiling because she “know[s] you’re not telling the truth.” In that same exchange, he told a female reporter to smile.
Later, in December 2025, Trump called Collins “stupid and nasty” in a Truth Social post while discussing construction on the White House ballroom.
In 2020. Trump walked out of the White House briefing room after Collins asked him a question about the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine during a COVID-19 briefing. Also in 2020. Trump called Collins and CNN “fake news”—a term he coined and used frequently for news organizations he considered biased—after she asked him about his relationship with North Korea’s president. Kim Jong Un. according to Politico.
The story behind Collins’s rise
Collins began her career as an entertainment reporter at The Daily Caller. a right-wing website founded by former Fox News star Tucker Carlson in 2014. after graduating from the University of Alabama. She later covered the 2016 presidential election and Trump’s first term as a White House reporter for the conservative outlet before making frequent appearances as a guest on CNN.
Former CNN head Jeff Zucker hired her as a reporter, and she rose quickly to become CNN’s youngest chief White House correspondent ever, at 28. Collins was promoted to chief White House correspondent ahead of President Joe Biden’s January 2021 inauguration.
She left that role in the fall of 2022 after Chris Licht, the embattled ex-CNN chief, named her co-host of now-cancelled “CNN This Morning” alongside Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow. After the cancellation of “This Morning,” Collins was named anchor of her own show, “The Source With Kaitlan Collins.”
The sequence Wednesday afternoon made clear: Trump’s attack on Collins and his framing of the “anti-weaponization fund” moved together, each time the conversation returned to the same program, the same targets, and the same demand for control of the moment.
Where the confrontation leaves the fund today
Trump has spent the day tying the “anti-weaponization fund” to a fight over media treatment and legal accountability. Yet the program’s legal footing remains unsettled after the Justice Department said it would follow a court ruling that paused the fund.
With Collins asking questions and Trump repeatedly shutting down interjections—telling her “be quiet” when she tried—the White House–media tension looks set to remain intertwined with whatever comes next for the fund, now stuck between a pitched rollout and a pause ordered by the courts.
Donald Trump Kaitlan Collins CNN anti-weaponization fund Justice Department court ruling Oval Office media criticism White House political news