Trump tells CNN's Kaitlan Collins she should not cover him at UNGA

Name: Trump tells CNN's Kaitlan Collins she should not cover him at UNGA
Uploaded: 2026-09-22T15:17:40.000Z
Duration: 20 s
Description: CNN posted a YouTube video under the title “Trump to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: ‘You should not be here.’” The channel’s description states that President Donald Trump told Collins she should not be covering him at the UN General Assembly.

President Trump told CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the U.N. she should not cover him amid a White House ban and First Amendment lawsuit by CNN and other outlets.

IDBy IJR Editor DeskSep 29, 2026

CNN posted a YouTube video under the title “Trump to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: ‘You should not be here.’” The channel’s description states that President Donald Trump told Collins she should not be covering him at the UN General Assembly.

The Guardian and ABC News reported that the exchange took place Tuesday as Trump entered the United Nations doors in New York ahead of his General Assembly speech. Collins put a question to him about a poll finding that two-thirds of Americans do not think the United States is winning the war with Iran, and asked when it would end. “It’s an honor to be here, I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me,” Trump replied, according to both outlets. He then told her: “You should not be here covering me.” He added, “You said you weren’t going to cover me,” and “You shouldn’t be covering me.”

The confrontation sat inside a larger fight over press access. The White House announced on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, that it was barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds. The three outlets filed a joint lawsuit on Monday, Sept. 21, alleging a First Amendment violation. ABC News reported that the White House filed a late Tuesday response urging the court to reject the request and arguing that access is a “privilege.” A hearing is set for Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 23, before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom Trump appointed in 2017. Kelly previously ordered CNN journalist Jim Acosta’s access restored in a 2018 case.

CNN had been the designated White House pool network for the New York trip but lost that role under the ban, ABC News and other outlets reported. The remaining pool networks—ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC—suspended all pool coverage in solidarity. The Associated Press, The Washington Post and The New York Times declined to publish photographs of presidential events on Monday, Sept. 21. A sign reading “I stand with AP, CNN, MS NOW, Politico” was spotted in a White House workspace. CNN, MS NOW and Politico covered Trump at the United Nations using UN-issued credentials rather than White House ones.

Collins addressed the exchange on air afterward. “We never said we were not going to cover the president. We will do our best to cover him each and every day,” she said, according to ABC News and The Guardian. She also said CNN would continue to cover the president and his speech and his meetings with world leaders that day, “just not with a TV camera from one of the five major networks in the room.”

Watch the video

CNNSep 22, 2026

2.2M views23k likes4.0k comments

Trump to CNN's Kaitlan Collins: 'You should not be here'

Watch on YouTube

Sponsored

Trump returned to the subject later Tuesday. He called negative coverage dangerous and predicted the court outcome. Asked whether he would let the outlets back in if the judge ruled against the White House, he said, “Well, it probably will, because this is a judge who’s not a particularly fair judge.” He added, “So you never know,” and “I think we have a right to clean out fake news.”

On Truth Social late Tuesday he attacked Collins directly, calling her a “Third Rate ‘Reporter’” and grouping her with “SLEAZEBAGS.” “All of the SLEAZEBAGS, like Third Rate ‘Reporter,’ Kaitlan Collins, of Fake News CNN, a truly unhappy person, said they weren’t going to be covering me,” the post read, according to reporting on the message. “Why was she there? She’s got a ‘TRUMP’ addiction, and so does CNN and MSDNC. They’re all sick, treasonous, and demented!” He also wrote that the outlets had “a great, for them, and totally disloyal Judge.”