Kaitlan Collins showed up to cover Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, and Trump sure did call her out.
Last week, the White House banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico reporters from White House access entirely, a decision that has since triggered a federal lawsuit. On Saturday, Secret Service agents turned away CNN, MS NOW, and Politico reporters from the White House grounds and confiscated their hard-pass credentials on the spot.
The White House Correspondents' Association condemned the move as a First Amendment violation. WHCA president Jacqui Heinrich, Fox News' senior White House correspondent, said in a post on X, "The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably … courts have repeatedly held that once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of their reporting."
Neither Barack Obama nor Joe Biden faced this kind of outrage when their own administrations restricted press access, but I digress.
On Monday, the three outlets sued Trump and three top advisers in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., demanding their access be restored immediately. "Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists' credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference," the outlets said in a joint statement.
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The lawsuit's complaint cites a 1977 D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that bars the White House from denying a journalist a press pass without due process, and calls the ban "a more direct assault on the First Amendment" than any action before it.
The administration, however, backed its case with receipts. The White House Rapid Response account posted an image on X cataloging nearly 50 stories CNN had reported as fact that were clearly false.
Nevertheless, the major U.S. television networks, including Fox News, launched an effective boycott of pool coverage of Trump.
CNN showed up for Trump’s address to the United Nations anyway.
"It's an honor to be here," he began before catching sight of Collins. "I'm surprised that CNN is here covering me,” he said, before calling out Collins to her face: “You shouldn't be here, you should not — you should not be here covering me."
"You said you weren't going to cover me," Trump reminded her; "You shouldn't be covering me."
Then he continued his remarks, "But I will tell you: It is an honor to be at the United Nations, and we're making a lot of progress. Our country is doing really, really well."
Trump humiliates @kaitlancollins at UN.
— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) September 22, 2026
"I'm surprised that CNN is here covering me. You shouldn't be here! You should not be here covering me. You said you weren't going to cover me. You shouldn't be covering me."
pic.twitter.com/gfo3zb6aQn
As I've said before, the First Amendment doesn't entitle any outlet to a hard pass or a seat in the briefing room, and revoking one doesn't stop CNN, MS NOW, or Politico from reporting or publishing a single word.
The White House made its own case just as bluntly, calling press access "a privilege — not a right." "The First Amendment protects their right to publish; it does not entitle them to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool," it said in a statement.
You can watch Trump’s entire UN speech here:
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump's FULL blockbuster UN speech is getting rave reviews — where he RAILED against the globalist ICC, called out the persecution of Christians, REFUSED to apologize for America First and more
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 22, 2026
The whole thing was 10/10! 🔥
TRUMP DID THE FOLLOWING:
-… pic.twitter.com/VmpKSTTsqM
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