The network and journalist Kaitlan Collins have responded.

Trump attacks CNN reporter after she presses him on Epstein files: ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile’

The network and journalist Kaitlan Collins have responded.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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February 3, 2026 11:14 p.m. ET

Donald Trump went off on CNN's Kaitlan Collins. Credit:

Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty; Kevin Dietsch/Getty

President Donald Trump admonished CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins for not smiling enough as he spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

The CNN journalist, the network's chief White House correspondent and anchor of the series *The Source with Kaitlan Collins*, had asked the president several questions about the Epstein files released Jan. 30.

He responded, saying the scandal was a "conspiracy against me" and that it was time for the country to move on, before he began talking about Collins' demeanor.

"You are so bad," Trump said. "You are the worst reporter. CNN has no ratings because of people like you."

Then the president looked around the bustling room and said, "You know, she's a young woman. I don't think I've ever seen you smile. I've known you for 10 years. I don't think I've ever seen a smile on your face."

When Collins, who's 33, tried to explain that she was asking him about survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Trump cut her off again.

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"You know why you're not smiling?" he asked. "Because you know you're not telling the truth. And you're a very dishonest organization, and they should be ashamed of you."

Trump looked around the room to show that he was moving on to another question.

"These are survivors of a sexual abuser," Collins said.

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In a statement to **, a CNN spokesperson said, "Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity. She skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day, which audiences around the world know they can trust."**

Collins herself addressed the situation on Jake Tapper's show *The Lead*.

Kaitlan Collins is CNN's chief White House correspondent.

Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty

"This is something where the survivors here have been at the center of this, and they have been the people who have said they're unhappy with what has come out of the Justice Department here so far," she said after the interaction, per Deadline. "I just spoke to one on Friday night who was saying that entire witness interviews with the FBI were redacted. The entire page was blacked out. And so these are real questions."**** Trump has been known to lash out at female reporters, such as in November 2025, when he infamously said, "Quiet. Quiet, piggy," to a journalist from Bloomberg News. She had also asked about the Epstein files, in which references to Trump appear.**

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