CNN star Kaitlan Collins has revealed what she was thinking during her infamous White House “smile” showdown with Donald Trump this month.
The president, 79, told Collins, 33, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile” when she was asking him about the Epstein files and the Trump administration’s accountability for survivors.
The CNN host asked Trump on Feb. 4, “What would you say to survivors…” when the president interrupted her. “You are so bad. You know, you are the worst reporter. No wonder… CNN has no ratings because of people like you.”
Kaitlan Collins with Donald Trump in the White House. screen grab
“She’s a young woman,” Trump continued. “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.”
Speaking on The Source on Tuesday night, Collins shared a preview from her interview on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, where she addressed the White House incident.
Collins said she wasn’t surprised “in the moment of the attack” as Trump has previously called her “a lot of names” and “gone after” her in an attempt to “deflect” from uncomfortable questions.
Kaitlan Collins appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. screen grab
“He is someone who is often politically savvy or tied in with what his base wants,” Collins said.
“In that moment I was thinking if he had said that in response to a different question, I think it would have had a different reaction. I think a lot of women can identify with that moment and that feeling. I think it was actually the question that is what generated so many headlines out of that,” she added.
Collins said that her question was about sexual assault survivors and “wasn’t even accusatory of the president.”
Noting that she has interviewed many of Epstein’s survivors on her CNN program, Collins said, “I don’t think it’s a controversial opinion that you shouldn’t smile when you’re asking questions about a sex trafficker and sexual assault victims.”
Colbert’s audience broke into applause after her answer.
Donald Trump has denied knowing about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes while the pair were good friends. Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
Collins has only briefly discussed the awkward interaction after it happened. Speaking on The Source the night of Trump’s comments, the host said that the president “views things through the lens of how it affects him.”
Two days after Trump’s comments, JD Vance defended the president, stating, “Even if you’re asking a tough question, even if you take your job very seriously, like, does it always have to be so antagonistic?”
“Have some fun, right? You can’t always take yourself too seriously. You’re gonna have a heart attack.”
After airing Vance’s statements, Collins shot back. “The point of the question was what the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are saying and the justice and the accountability that they want to see. It‘s nothing to smile about.”
Collins spoke to Epstein survivor Annie Farmer, who thanked the host for her direct questioning of Trump on behalf of survivors.
Journalist and CNN news anchor Kaitlan Collins and other journalist raise their hands during a joint press conference between U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room at the White House on February 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“I know I don‘t just speak for myself when I say I really appreciate how persistent you were in questioning this administration about their failure with this release,” Farmer said. “I don‘t think it‘s something to smile about. And I thought you handled it very appropriately.”
Collins appeared on Colbert’s show a day after he claimed his network, CBS, told him he could not air an interview with Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico.
“[Talarico] was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” Colbert said.
The network later claimed Colbert “was not prohibited by CBS” from broadcasting Talarico’s interview, and that it was instead shared on The Late Show’s YouTube channel.
