Donald Trump refuses to take questions from Kaitlan Collins during cabinet meeting: 'No, not for CNN'

WASHINGTON, DC: CNN’s Kaitlan Collins caught some verbal shrapnel flying her way during President Donald Trump's cabinet meeting on Tuesday, July 8.

As she attempted to fire off a question, Trump immediately cut her off with a blunt, "No. Not for CNN,” before turning his attention to another reporter.

Donald Trump shades CNN

Kaitlan Collins has become a go-to target for Donald Trump. He’s called her behavior “disrespectful,” her questions “biased,” and he wasn’t about to change the script on Tuesday.

Collins could be heard trying to shout out questions multiple times during the meeting, but the president didn’t entertain her even once.

When he did acknowledge her, it was just to shut her down again. Collins started, “Can you clear something up Mr President—” only to be met with radio silence from Trump.

She did manage to squeeze in another question about defensive weapons being sent to Ukraine. After referencing the recent pause in military aid and asking who gave the green light for it, Trump casually responded, “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”

But the president wasn’t done taking digs at CNN. “Fortunately, nobody watches. Is anybody watching CNN nowadays? I haven’t seen it in a long time," he said, before joking that he only tunes in “to learn from the enemy” so he can figure out “where they’re coming from.”

While Collins was getting the silent treatment, other reporters got to lob their questions. Trump announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump would be heading to Texas on Friday to assess the damage caused by recent flash floods.

He also reiterated a new policy move from his administration—banning Chinese nationals from owning farmland in America and rolling back some of the land that’s already been bought. China notably owns over 380,000 acres of farmland in the US, according to NPR.

Kaitlan Collins vs Donald Trump

This wasn’t the first time Kaitlan Collins found herself on the receiving end of Donald Trump’s takedowns. She’s been one of the few reporters consistently willing to press him, even when the temperature in the room rises.

Their most infamous showdown might’ve been during a CNN town hall in May 2023. Moderating the event, Collins grilled Trump on the classified documents stashed at Mar-a-Lago. As she pressed harder and attempted to "fact-check" his answers live, Trump snapped, “Are you ready? Can I talk? Do you mind?”

Collins responded, “I would like for you to answer the question. That's why I asked it.” Trump fired back with, “It’s very simple—and you are a nasty person, I’ll tell ya.” That one-liner got the crowd roaring with laughter and applause.

Recently, there was the Oval Office moment with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. When Collins tried to ask a question about a Supreme Court ruling on a deportation case, Trump shot back, “Why don’t you just say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country?’” before adding, “That’s why nobody watches you anymore. You have no credibility.”

He’s also lobbed other verbal grenades at her over the years—calling one of her inquiries “not a very smart question” and brushing her off in another heated moment with, “Excuse me, I didn’t pick you.”