It hasn't been the best week for CNN, as their own Scott Jennings has been issuing them key reminders about their delusional talking points. On Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump issued a warning to the network as well, specifically for Kaitlan Collins. Such a moment has since become a trending topic over X, highlighting Trump's control over the media, though it's also worth reminding he's been far more accessible than former President Joe Biden.
The press were there for Trump's executive order on reciprocal tariffs, as Katie covered. While the president was still in the process of holding up the order he had just signed, Collins spoke up to ask about inflation and rising prices when she was politely cut off. Trump continued to hold up his order as the press took pictures, adding "excuse me, we haven't asked you to speak yet please, all right?"
President Trump absolutely TORCHES Fake News CNN's @kaitlancollins for rudely interrupting: "Excuse me, we haven't asked you to speak yet" 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QPDuKILalA
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 13, 2025
Collins was able to eventually ask questions, and in sharing part of their exchange, the Rapid Response 47 X account for the Trump administration even tagged her with regards to the "lesson" Trump gave her "on the Ukraine war." They did the same when calling her out for "rudely interrupting[.]"
Trump was answering a question about whether Biden or Russia's Vladimir Putin was at fault in the matter, with Putin waiting until Biden was in office to attack Ukraine. "I think Biden is incompetent, and I think when he said that they can join NATO, that was a very stupid thing to say, adding how he thought it was "a very foolish thing to say" when it comes to Biden's remarks on "a minor incursion" from Russia. The Biden White House and then Secretary of State Antony Blinken certainly had to do plenty of clean up after such remarks, about a month before Russia actually invaded.
The president continued from there when it comes to the foreign policy failures from the Biden administration and the roles they played. "The other thing that got it started was how badly [General Mark] Milley and these stupid people, these bad generals, how badly they did with Afghanistan," Trump reminded, also speaking about a plan he had for ending the war. "I was going to pull out but we were going to pull out with dignity and strength and we were going to take our equipment with us, and everything else... what they did with that, I think Putin looked at that mess and he said, 'wow, this is a great time, I'm going to go in,' but what the Americans said, I'm not blaming Americans, but I will say what they said had a big influence on his deciding to go in."
POTUS gives @kaitlancollins a lesson on the Ukraine war: I think Biden is incompetent, and I think when he said they can join NATO, that was a very stupid thing to say... The other thing that got it started was how badly Milley and these stupid people did with Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/x4lHLgygKf
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 13, 2025
Such a point about how how the Afghanistan withdrawal could not have been more chaotic if planned that way, absolutely makes sense for why Putin invaded Ukraine and did so during Biden's watch, approximately six months after the harried withdrawal. Foreign policy overall was a mess under Biden, with the world a much less safe place, as another international conflict, the Israel-Hamas war, also erupted during Biden's watch.
Trump wasn't finished talking to Collins, and even brought up CNN as well, as he stressed "this should have never been allowed to happen!"
"I know [Biden's] a friend of yours," Trump continued, with Collins trying to interrupt once more. "He's a friend of CNN. That's why no one watches CNN anymore because they have no credibility," Trump added about the former president and the liberal network, with audible laugher being heard in the background.
TRUMP: "I know he [Biden] is a friend of yours. He's a friend of CNN. That's why no one watches CNN anymore because they have no credibility." pic.twitter.com/ZpU6yZUYE3
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 13, 2025
CNN has been called out for defending Biden before. One of the points Jennings had to remind his liberal co-panelists about, specifically Brian Stelter, was a lack of transparency and poor treatment of the press from the Biden administration, which Stelter laughably tried to claim wasn't true, a point he kept up with over X as well.
Collins posted to her X accounts about various moments of the press event, though she doesn't appear to have posted about being called out for her interruption, or about Trump pointing out how Biden is "a friend of CNN."