President Donald Trump deflected from questions about the Epstein files by complaining that he by no means sees NCS’s Kaitlan Collins smile.
During an Oval Office briefing on Tuesday, Collins requested Trump about the lately launched tranche of Epstein paperwork which embrace references to his associates together with Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
Trump admitted that he hadn’t read through the files however mentioned he was certain that their point out in the recordsdata was “fine” as a result of in any other case there would have been “major headlines.” There have been, in truth, major headlines about the people named in the recordsdata.
Collins continued to push Trump on Epstein and the president mentioned he desires the nation to maneuver previous the recordsdata.
“I think it’s really time for the country to get onto something else, really,” Trump mentioned.
When Collins pushed again, asking about justice for the ladies victimized by Epstein’s operation, Trump bought offended and started ranting about NCS and known as Collins “the worst reporter.” He then complained that she by no means smiled.
“You know she’s a young woman,” Trump mentioned to the remainder of the room earlier than redirecting to Collins. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile.”
He continued, saying that “I’ve recognized you for 10 years, I do not think I’ve ever seen a smile in your face.”
“Well I’m asking you about survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, Mr President,” Collins said.
Trump interrupted and spoke over her, saying he thinks the reason she doesn’t smile is because “you know you’re not telling the fact.”
After the heated exchange, Piers Morgan weighed in on Trump’s comments noting — not that Collins’ facial expressions are at all relevant to her work — that she “smiles a LOT.”
On Tuesday night, Collins spoke with NCS’s Jake Tapper about the exchange at the White House, mentioning that she’s spoken to Epstein survivors who are frustrated by some of the redactions in the files.
“So far, I just spoke to [a survivor] on Friday night who was saying that, you know, entire witness interviews with the FBI were redacted. The entire page was blacked out. And so these are real questions,” Collins said. “Obviously as the president is saying it’s time to move on, there’s many people — including a lot of his own supporters —who do not feel that way.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has lashed out at Collins. In December, he called insulted the reporter after she asked him about the cost of his new ballroom at the White House.
“Caitlin Collin’s [sic] of Fake News NCS, always Stupid and Nasty, asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago,” he wrote on Truth Social last month.
Collins responded to the president’s comment in an Instagram post, noting that “technically my question was about Venezuela.”
Before his Truth Social assault, the final query Collins had requested Trump on-air was about his FIFA peace prize and Venezuela.