CNN spent two years calling Donald Trump a threat to democracy.
Now Trump showed up at the United Nations and told CNN they shouldn't even be there.
Kaitlan Collins had no answer after Donald Trump told CNN she had no business covering him at the United Nations.
CNN Said It Wouldn't Cover Trump. Then It Showed Up Anyway.
Trump arrived in New York for the United Nations General Assembly on September 22 and went straight at Collins the moment cameras were rolling.
"I'm surprised that CNN is here covering me," Trump said. "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."
He wasn't done.
"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," he said.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2102399149408723272?s=20
Classic Trump – he burned CNN in one breath and pivoted to American wins in the next.
Just four days earlier, on September 18, Trump announced he was banning CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House effective immediately – citing their constant "reporting" of FAKE NEWS.
"Media Outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they're covering the President of the United States," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The White House simultaneously rewrote the rules governing the presidential press pool – stripping the White House Correspondents' Association of its traditional role and handing the press secretary direct control over which outlets get access.
CNN responded by suing Trump and unnamed senior administration officials, claiming First Amendment violations.
Then they showed up anyway at UNGA to cover the man they're suing.
Collins Has Been Down This Road Before
In 2018, during Trump's first term, Collins was dis-invited from a White House press event after the administration deemed her questions inappropriate.
She wasn't deterred then, and she wasn't deterred this week.
Since Trump returned to office, Collins has repeatedly pressed him in the Oval Office.
In February 2026, she asked about Epstein file redactions.
Trump called her "the worst reporter," said he'd never seen her smile in ten years, then moved on to the next reporter without letting her finish.
She replayed the footage on her CNN show and said Trump "views things through the lens of how it affects him."
Trump went further in June 2026, telling reporters he saw "hatred" in Collins' eyes – citing his own policies on borders, military strength, and tax cuts as the source of it.
Then at the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner in July 2026, Trump congratulated Collins on what he called "a major new sponsorship" – then told the room he'd confused her with Dylan Mulvaney on a Bud Light can.
CNN issued a statement calling Collins "an exceptional, trusted journalist."
Collins said it wasn't about her.
It's always been about her.
CNN Painted Itself Into This Corner
CNN's position at UNGA is legally incoherent.
The network is simultaneously suing Trump for banning them from the White House while showing up to cover him at a separate event – after suggesting they weren't going to cover him at all.
This follows a pattern.
In February 2025, the administration cut the Associated Press from Oval Office and Air Force One access after the AP refused to use the term "Gulf of America."
The AP sued. Courts have been fighting over it ever since.
CNN's lawsuit follows the same playbook – but the situations aren't comparable.
The AP refused to bend on a style choice.
CNN is being excluded for what Trump says is a sustained campaign of fabricated reporting against his administration.
CNN is betting the 1981 playbook still works.
https://twitter.com/proamericapol/status/2102438175709044811?s=20
That year, when the network was brand new, it sued the Reagan White House over press pool access and won – with courts ruling a First Amendment right to be included.
It won't work this time.
In 1981, CNN had no track record.
The network today spent two years telling Americans the man they just re-elected was a danger to the republic.
That's a different legal argument wearing the same First Amendment costume – and any judge who reads the record will see it.
Trump already won the only vote that matters.
He showed up at the United Nations, ran into the reporter he's been sparring with for a decade, told her she shouldn't be there, and then talked about how great America is doing.
Collins had no answer for it.
Sources:
- Elizabeth Weibel, "Trump Zings CNN's Kaitlan Collins for Coverage of UNGA," Breitbart News, September 22, 2026.
- Associated Press, "Trump Says He Is Banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House," September 18, 2026.
- "Trump Announces Ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico at the White House," MercoPress, September 19, 2026.
- "Kaitlan Collins Shares Alternate Angle of Tense Interaction with Trump," iHeart/WTAM, February 4, 2026.
