CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins has said she was unsurprised when US President Donald Trump insulted her during his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, telling "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart that such treatment is routine "inside the Oval Office" and that the dinner was "just a bigger venue" for it. Her comments, made during a Monday debrief with Stewart, shed light on the president's fraught relationship with the press and his tendency to target individual journalists publicly, even at events traditionally meant to celebrate press freedom.

Collins was being honoured at the dinner for her coverage of Trump's tense meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at an event rescheduled from April after a security breach. In his speech, Trump dismissed her award as "fake", suggested she should smile more, and compared her to trans advocate Dylan Mulvaney, referencing the 2023 Bud Light boycott, prompting a wry response from Mulvaney calling it a compliment. Collins also noted that the room, packed with Trump allies and staff, fell notably silent during his remarks, and she defended her direct questioning style as intended to serve all audiences rather than any political faction.