CNN's Jake Tapper stepped in to defend Kaitlan Collins after Donald Trump blasted her in a harsh social media rant. On Saturday, December 6, Tapper jumped onto X (formerly Twitter) and pushed back on Trump's "stupid and nasty" Truth Social post with a bulleted list, calling Collins both "smart" and "nice."
Source: @jaketapper/X
He followed up by writing, "It's a legitimate question about construction of a controversial project on White House grounds.
Generally speaking if someone or something is irrelevant, the President doesn't talk about them."
Source: MEGAJake Tapper publicly defended Kaitlan Collins.
As OK! previously reported, Trump, who spelled the journalist's name wrong, went off online, writing, "Caitlin Collin's of Fake News CNN, always Stupid and Nasty, asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago." He continued, "I said because it is going to be double the size, and the quality of finishes and interiors has been brought to the highest level. Also, the column SPAN has been substantially increased for purposes of viewing."
Trump then insisted the White House ballroom renovations were "under budget and ahead of schedule, as my jobs always are." He added that it was "being fully paid for by private donations," before slamming CNN again. "FAKE NEWS CNN, and the guy who runs the whole corrupt operation that owns it, is one of the worst in the business. Their ratings are so low that they're not even counted or relevant anymore. MAGA!!!" he exclaimed.
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Source: MEGADonald Trump insisted the White House ballroom renovations were 'under budget.
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Collins later responded on Instagram Stories, reposting Trump's comments alongside her own pointed note. "Technically, my question was about Venezuela," she wrote, pointing to the ongoing tension between the U.S. and the South American nation.
The feud sparked on December 5, after Collins had pressed Trump during the launch of the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw in Washington, D.C. Trump was onstage receiving a special peace prize with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Source: MEGADonald Trump attacked Kaitlan Collins on social media.
Before the medal presentation, Collins asked him, "Mr. President, what would you say to people who say that prize might conflict with your pledge to strike Venezuela?" Trump pushed back by saying he ended "eight wars and we have a ninth coming ... which nobody's ever done before."
Source: DRM News/YouTubeDonald Trump called Kaitlan Collins 'stupid and nasty.
'"But I want to really save lives. I don't need prizes. I need to save lives. And we're saving a lot of lives. I've saved millions and millions of lives. And that's really what I want to do," he continued. "And I also want to run a great country. And the United States right now is the hottest country anywhere in the world. And one year ago, it was dead. We had a dead country. And now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world."