Kaitlan Collins Was Awarded by the White House Correspondents Association but All Trump Could Speak of Was Her Smile
Alexa, play Smile by Avril Lavigne
On July 24, 2026, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner took place at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. Among the winners was CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who received the Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure award in the broadcast category for her coverage of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump at the Oval Office.
While Collins’ achievement in this regard is noteworthy, the chatter circulating on social media, especially on X (formerly Twitter), has very little to do with her and her accomplishments and much more to do with what Trump said about her win during the event.
Donald Trump wants Kaitlan Collins to smile, again
After Collins received the Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure award on Friday, Trump, who took to the stage shortly after, shared his thoughts on her win.
Trump first congratulated Collins and claimed that her coverage was all about him. Then he said that everything related to it was “fake” and that she shouldn’t have received the award. He then shifted his tone and focused on something he’s always criticized about Collins, emphasizing that despite being a “young” and “attractive” woman, she never smiled. To prove his point further, Trump said, “I added, Kaitlan, do you ever smile? Smile. You have a nice position, you’re at CNN fake news, you should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan, just smile.”
During the same event, Trump also tried to roast Kaitlan Collins by comparing her to a trans actress
Donald Trump tried to take another shot at Collins during Friday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner when he compared her to Awkwardness (2015) and The Buccaneers (2025) actress and social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Speaking of a three-year-old ad campaign, Trump joked that he thought Collins “really made it big with a major new sponsorship,” but then later realized that it wasn’t her on the “Bud Light can” but Dylan Mulvaney, and he informed Collins of this. He also added, “Dylan Mulvaney cost Bud Light $35 billion in market cap. That was the worst commercial ever made, by the way.”
An article published by People on July 25, 2026, highlights that Trump’s comments in this context during the event were met with silence from the audience. Many did not entertain his joke as he attempted to connect Mulvaney’s name with Collins as an insult, even though it wasn’t meant to be one.
(featured image: CBR)
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