Leavitt torches CNN's Kaitlan Collins in bitter clash over dead troops: 'You're being disingenuous'

WASHINGTON, DC: Sparks flew inside the White House briefing room on Wednesday, March 4, as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt went head-to-head with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, accusing her of twisting the administration’s stance on fallen US soldiers and bluntly telling her, “You know you are being disingenuous.”

Kaitlan Collins tried to defend her stance, but Leavitt continued to accuse her and CNN of presenting the Trump administration in a poor light.

Karoline Leavitt blasts Kaitlan Collins

Wednesday’s briefing was supposed to focus on 'Operation Epic Fury' - the administration’s military push against Iranian-backed threats in the Middle East.

Instead, it turned into a confrontation. When Kaitlan Collins pressed whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had suggested the media shouldn’t prominently cover the deaths of six US service members, Karoline Leavitt didn’t just disagree. She went on offense.

Leavitt forcefully rejected the premise that the administration had a problem with the coverage of fallen troops.

Instead, she accused the press of selectively highlighting tragedy while ignoring what the White House called operational victories.

“It’s the position of this administration that the press in this room and the press across the country should accurately report on the success of Operation Epic Fury and the damage it is doing to the rogue Iranian regime,” she said.

Then she raised the stakes dramatically. “If the Iranian regime had their choice, they would kill every single person in this room,” she added.

She praised US troops willing to “sacrifice their own lives” and insisted Americans should be “very grateful” for their service.

Kaitlan Collins tries to push back but fails

Collins clarified that she was specifically talking about front-page coverage of the six service members killed.

“I was complaining that it was front-page news about these six service members who were killed,” Collins said.

“That’s not what the secretary said, Kaitlan. And that’s not what the secretary meant. And you know it. You know you are being disingenuous,” Karoline Leavitt responded.

Leavitt added, "The press only wants to make the president look bad. That’s a fact. Especially you and especially CNN."

She insisted President Donald Trump would attend the dignified transfer of the fallen troops and said that the defense secretary deeply cared about service members.

“We expect you to cover that, as you should, Kaitlan,” Leavitt added. “But you and your network know that you take every single thing this administration says and tries to use it to make the president look bad.”

Collins held her ground, saying, “I don’t think covering troop deaths is trying to make the president look bad.”

Leavitt wasn’t done. “If you’re trying to argue right now that CNN’s overwhelming coverage is not negative of President Donald Trump, I think the American people would tend to agree, and your ratings would tend to disagree with that as well.”