President Donald Trump berated a CNN reporter on Tuesday, days after barring the network from the White House, telling her that she should not be covering him.
The terse interaction did not take place at the White House — where, along with MS NOW and Politico, CNN has been banned since Saturday — but during Trump’s visit to the United Nations in New York.
Kaitlan Collins, the network’s chief White House correspondent who has long been the subject of Trump’s ire, asked the president a question about U.S. public perception of the war in Iran.
“It’s an honor to be here. I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me,” Trump said.
Collins responded, “The United Nations allowed us in, sir.”
“You should not be here covering me,” Trump replied. “You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering me.”
Collins then repeated her question twice while Trump ignored her.
The three outlets are suing the government, arguing that barring them from the White House based on their coverage is unconstitutional.
CNN did not provide further comment on the exchange Tuesday, but in a prior statement said that it will not be deterred from covering the U.S. government.
“We will not be deflected from our duty to hold the government and other public bodies to account, and we will continue to report on the actions and processes of this administration without fear or favor,” a CNN spokeswoman said Saturday.
When asked to respond Tuesday, the White House directed The Washington Post to a Monday post Trump made on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,” Trump wrote. “It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America. It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!”
Justice Department lawyers will square off against attorneys for the news outlets on Wednesday when U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly hears arguments for and against halting the bans. Kelly, a Trump appointee, in 2018 granted a temporary restraining order to restore then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s White House press pass.
The president on Tuesday told reporters that if Kelly, who he called “not a particularly fair judge,” strikes the bans down, Trump will allow the three outlets back in. Still, Trump said, said he should have the right to kick them out.
“I’m talking about national security, and I think we have a right to clean out fake news. You know, news is fake,” he said.
He also repeated his complaint that CNN and other organizations he had banned from the White House had shown up at the U.N.: “They came,” he said. “I knew that would happen. What are they not going to be with President Xi tomorrow? But they said ‘we will not cover Trump.’”
(Trump is set to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington for a visit that starts Wednesday.)
He continued: “But no, we have a lot of fake news, and I think when news is fake and it’s actually dangerous, I think we’re right to clear it out.”
Michael Birnbaum contributed to this report.
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