President Donald Trump on Saturday attacked another female White House journalist, this time disparaging CNN’s Kaitlan Collins as “stupid and nasty” after she questioned him about the soaring price tag of his White House ballroom renovation.
“Caitlin Collin’s of Fake News CNN,” he wrote on Truth Social — misspelling the CNN correspondent’s name — “always Stupid and Nasty, asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago. I said because it is going to be double the size, and the quality of finishes and interiors has been brought to the highest level.”
Trump has long resorted to personal barbs when confronted by women, and has been quick to insult their appearance or intelligence, sometimes in vulgar terms as he did with his 2016 Democratic presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.
His screed on Saturday follows multiple recent instances in which he mocked women reporters who asked him questions or wrote stories he did not like.
Last month, when Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey pressed him on his relationship with the late disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Trump snapped at her, saying, “Quiet, piggy” — an insult he reportedly has used on other women in the past.
Days later, during a press conference with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump chastised ABC News’ Mary Bruce, who asked about slain Washington Post journalist Jamal Khasshoggi, calling her a “terrible person” and “fake news.”
“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Trump said. “It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions.”
Collins defended both Bruce and Lucey with a statement of support she posted on X.
Last week, upset about a New York Times article on his signs of aging, Trump, 79, slammed Katie Rogers, who co-authored the story, as “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”
And in the wake of the National Guard shooting, when CBS News reporter Nancy Cordes pushed back on his false claim that the Biden administration did not vet Afghan nationals who entered the country, Trump grew irate.
“Are you stupid?” he said. “Are you a stupid person?”
CORRECTION (Dec. 6, 2025, 4 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled Kaitlan Collins’ first name.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.