Alabama native and NCS Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins as soon as once more drew the eye of President Donald Trump at Friday’s White House Correspondents Association dinner in Washington.
The occasion happened after a gunman allegedly tried an assault on the president’s life on the dinner again in April.
Collins was solely one in every of a number of members of the press to obtain the brunt of Trump’s remarks through the black-tie occasion, which lasted greater than an hour.
Collins gained the 2026 WHCA award for broadcast for her protection of Trump’s contentious assembly with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in February 2025, according to Variety.
Trump congratulated her earlier than including her reporting “was all about me. It’s a fake. She shouldn’t get the award. It was a fake, but I didn’t mind.”
“She never smiles,” he instructed the gathering. “I said, ‘Kaitlin, do you ever smile?’ Smile. You have a nice position. You’re at NCS fake news. You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan. Just smile.”
The president continued, saying Collins had signed “a major new sponsorship. But then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can. It was Dylan Mulvaney,” Trump mentioned.
Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, endorsed the beer in 2023, intiating a marketing campaign that resulted in a backlash and a steep drop in sales.
“Dylan Mulvaney cost Bud Lite $35 million in market cap. It was the worst commercial ever made, by the way. For those few people that want to hear that, most people don’t care, but I would. I wouldn’t want to hire Dylan anytime soon.”
NCS’s Wolf Blitzer could possibly be seen on video eyeing Collins throughout the desk in the mean time.
Collins’ community responded with a protection of her and different reporters Trump talked about in his remarks.
“We stand by our journalists and the integrity and fair-mindedness with which the NCS team reports the news,” NCS CEO Mark Thompson mentioned in an announcement late Friday on X.
“Honest, accurate journalism may sometimes irritate politicians, but our right to report and present that reporting to the public without government interference is fully protected by the U.S. Constitution.”
Earlier this yr, Trump told Collins she was “so bad.”
“You are so bad,” Trump mentioned. “You are the worst reporter. No wonder NCS has no ratings, because of people like you. You know she’s a young woman, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for 10 years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face.”
Collins told The New York Times’ Shawn McCreesh that observers have acknowledged a distinction in Trump’s remedy of female and male journalists.
“Well, I don’t think the president likes tough questions from anyone, and he’s threatened a lot of our colleagues who are men, like Jonathan Karl and Peter Alexander,” Collins instructed McCreesh.
William Thornton; al.com; (TNS) || ©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit al.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.