Trump Takes Aim at CNN’s Award Winner
President Trump used part of his Friday speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner to single out CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who had received an award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists. Collins was honored for her coverage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s February 2025 White House visit, a tense meeting involving Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Trump called the award “fake” and said it was “all about me,” which is not exactly the traditional thank-you note style preferred by Washington’s dinner circuit.
The Smile Line Returns
Trump also revived one of his familiar criticisms of Collins, saying she “never smiles” despite holding a prominent role at CNN. He described her as young and attractive, then told the crowd he had urged her to smile more. The comment fit Trump’s long-running media routine, where CNN is treated less like a news network and more like a malfunctioning smoke detector in the Oval Office. Collins has often clashed with Trump during press events, and those exchanges have become part of the larger fight between the White House and legacy media.
The Bud Light Joke Lands in the Room
The sharpest line came when Trump compared Collins to Dylan Mulvaney, the transgender influencer whose 2023 Bud Light promotion sparked a major consumer backlash. Trump joked that he thought Collins had landed “a major new sponsorship,” before saying it was not her on the Bud Light can, but Mulvaney. He then claimed Mulvaney cost Bud Light $35 billion in market value and called the campaign one of the worst commercials ever made. Corporate America may call that brand strategy; customers called it shopping somewhere else.
Media Dinner, Media Tension
The source report said the room did not erupt in laughter, which may be the least surprising development since a congressional hearing running long. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is supposed to mix politics, press, and jokes, but in the Trump era it often looks more like a family reunion where everyone brought subpoenas. Collins’ award, Trump’s criticism, and the Bud Light reference all fed the same larger story: the press wants respect from the president, and Trump keeps responding with punchlines and receipts.
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