Kaitlan Collins pushed back at President Trump after he likened her to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney during remarks tied to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The CNN anchor addressed the episode after Trump said she reminded him of the viral Bud Light figure and shared a string of images that appeared to merge the two women’s likenesses.
“The fact that I got an award for it really bothered him clearly,” Collins said Monday night during an interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.
“And so I just think in those moments, it’s important to put the reminder back on the work, and the question and the non-answers we get,” she added.
Collins was among several journalists honored at the dinner, receiving recognition for her coverage of Trump, which has often been sharply scrutinizing.
In his Friday night speech, Trump singled out Collins, using part of his remarks to comment on her award and her reporting.
“I want to personally congratulate CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award. It was all about me. It was a fake, she shouldn’t get the award, it was a fake. But I didn’t mind,” he said.
Collins said the exchange underscored a larger point: that Trump’s attacks on her often come in response to questions she asks or reporting he dislikes, especially when he is pressed for answers and does not provide them.
Kaitlin Collins said she believes Donald Trump was ‘really bothered’ after she received an award ahead of the President’s roast of the CNN anchor at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Trump joked at the event Friday that Collins resembled transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and has since doubled down on the bit on his Truth Social page
‘It’s not really about me and I don’t want it to be about my reaction. I think if you let it become about that, then it becomes a back-and-forth between the two of us,’ she added.
It also comes with the territory for the CNN host, who also often spars with Trump in the Oval Office.
‘That happens pretty regularly inside the Oval Office. This is just a bigger venue where it was happening,’ she said of the insults at the dinner.
Collins noted that it didn’t appear the joke went over well in the room when Stewart asked if the President was ‘bombing as hard as it appeared on the TV.’
She said that despite the event being packed with Trump’s allies and cabinet members, it was ‘so quiet in the room during the president’s remarks.’
‘Because of how much they respect him,’ quipped Stewart.
Collins responded, asking: ‘Who’s to say?’
The president has frequently sparred with Collins in Oval Office press conferences, and he took several shots at her during his remarks Friday night.
The president has frequently sparred with Collins in Oval Office press conferences, and he took several shots at her during his remarks Friday night, including that she resembled Mulvaney (pictured)
She said she was ‘not surprised’ that Trump made fun of her after she was one of the several journalists presented with an award at the dinner and that winning for her often critical coverage of the President got to him
‘I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship,’ Trump said of Collins.
‘But then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney.’
Mulvaney has been open with her fans about her facial feminization surgery during her transition from male to female. She also starred in her autobiographical Off-Broadway show ‘The Least Problematic Woman in the World’ in 2025.
Bud Light suffered a huge drop in sales in 2023 after Mulvaney shared images of herself with a custom beer can as part of a marketing campaign, which also marked her first full year transitioning.
The promotion detonated a backlash that quickly grew into a full-scale boycott, fueled by conservative outrage, which was amplified across social media and right-wing news outlets.
Trump then repeated a previous criticism of Collins – that she allegedly does not smile.
‘She’s a young, attractive woman, but 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.’
On Sunday, Trump shared an image of Collins’s face superimposed on Mulvaney’s body in the viral Bud Light advert that catapulted the trans influencer to notoriety in April 2023.
Mulvaney created an uproar against the beer company in 2023 when she shared images of herself with a custom beer can featuring her face as part of a marketing campaign marking Mulvaney’s first full year transitioning
His infamous endorsement of the US-brewed beer triggered nationwide boycotts and a massive conservative backlash that the brand is only just recovering from.
Collins, responding to the first attack by Trump on Friday, wrote online: ‘The second best part of last night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was receiving an award from my friend and mentor, @wolfblitzer.’
She then added, ‘the first was reminding everyone why the First Amendment—and asking uncomfortable questions that people in power don’t like—matters,’ an apparent poke at Trump’s attack.
Trump’s clashes with Collins have been ongoing for many years.
Earlier this week, Semafor reported that CNN leadership and staff are ‘furious’ with Trump for the comments and the network’s executives and leadership are now discussing potentially bailing on next year’s dinner.
The network itself defended Collins and its entire team when reached by The Daily Mail Friday for comment.
‘Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional, trusted journalist being honored tonight for her depth of knowledge and the context she provides to audiences all over the world,’ they said.
‘She reports every day from the White House and the field with real strength and tenacity and skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day. We stand by her to the fullest extent.’
