CNN's Kaitlan Collins admits she 'bites her tongue' when interviewing Donald Trump

Hannah FurnellWed, June 3, 2026 at 8:46 PM UTC

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CNN's Kaitlan Collins admitted she 'bites her tongue' when interviewing Donald Trump -Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited (Reach Publishing Services Limited)

CNN's Kaitlan Collins has admitted to having to "bite her tongue" while interviewing President Donald Trump.

During the Tuesday, June 2, episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the 34-year-old anchor opened up about what it's like to interview the 79-year-old Commander-in-Chief after a fan in the audience asked how close she's come to breaking her "professional composure." The CNN star confessed it's sometimes hard to keep a straight face around Trump, but she ultimately tries to focus on the question and answer.

Collins also spoke about her tense Oval Office exchange with the president in February, when Trump called her "the worst reporter" and scolded her for not smiling more. The reporter told Cohen that, at the moment, she knew Trump's comments wouldn't be received well. This comes after Collins opened up about witnessing the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting in April.

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After the fan asked if she's ever come close to losing her professional cool while interviewing Trump, Collins answered, "The closest I've come - I mean, I try to be myself, but I also want my interviews to be about the person I'm questioning and their answers, because typically they're lawmakers and people who get paid taxpayer dollars.

"So I try to keep the focus on them and the question at hand. So I wouldn't say - Sometimes I've had to bite my tongue or like squeeze my pen really hard if I'm trying not to laugh."

Cohen further asked the reporter, "I'm wondering, you know, you've got the president calling mainly female reporters stupid and comment calling them pigs and commenting on their looks.

"It seems to me that at some point, someone is going to break and say, 'F you,' to him. Or something like that. I mean, do you ever see that happening? Like, is there someone in the press corp that you look at and think, 'They're going to break.'"

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Collins replied, "Maybe. I don't know. Never say never, I guess, but I truly think as a reporter you shouldn't make it about yourself. It's about the president, about the person you're questioning.

"But we're people too, and we're obviously in there questioning him and you know when he told me I should smile more, when I was asking him about sexual assault victims, in that moment I was just thinking this is not going to be received well by people in terms of the line of questioning, of what it's about. Like I knew how other people would respond."

CNN's Kaitlan Collins has admitted to having to 'bite her tongue' and squeezing her pen during tense interviews with President Donald Trump -Credit:Bravo

In February, in the Oval Office, Trump called Collins "the worst reporter" and scolded her for not smiling as she tried to ask about the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

"She's a young woman — I don't think I've ever seen you smile," Trump said in a sarcastic tone, while sitting at the Resolute Desk. "I've known you for 10 years. I don't think I've ever seen a smile on your face."

Collins noted that she was asking the president about Epstein's sexual assault victims, but Trump interrupted her, saying, "You know why you're not smiling? Because you know you're not telling the truth."

Earlier, in the news conference, Trump calmly answered two of Collins' questions about the release of documents related to the government's investigation of Epstein.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins said she tries to keep things professional while interviewing Donald Trump -Credit:Bravo

When Collins asked a third question about Epstein's victims, though, Trump attacked, telling her, "You are so bad. You know, you are the worst reporter. No wonder. CNN has no ratings because of people like you."

Trump has often singled out female journalists with attacks and insults. Last year, he cut off a Bloomberg News reporter, telling her, "Quiet! Quiet, piggy." Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg's White House correspondent, had also asked the president about the files related to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

As Lucey began asking why Trump was acting a certain way, "if there's nothing incriminating in the files," Trump gestured toward her and said, "Quiet. Quiet, piggy."

Collins is used to being slammed by the president, though. In December, Trump attacked her in a Truth Social post, writing, "Caitlin Collin's of Fake News CNN, always Stupid and Nasty."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”