US President Donald Trump confronted CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday after she asked him when the war with Iran would end.CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter shared a video of the exchange on X. In the video, Collins is heard asking Trump: “Two thirds of Americans don’t think the US is winning the war with Iran. When will it end?”Trump did not answer the question directly. Instead, he told Collins: “You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering me.”Collins later responded on X, saying CNN journalists were at the UN because they had been credentialed by the United Nations to cover the General Assembly.CNN, along with MS NOW and Politico, has recently been barred from the White House by the Trump administration, but the restriction does not extend to UN events, where media access is separately handled by the United Nations.
Why did Trump confront Collins?
Trump’s remarks came days after he announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House. The three outlets were subsequently denied access to the White House grounds, with their journalists’ credentials revoked.Trump has accused the organisations of publishing what he calls “fake news”. The administration has defended the restrictions, while the affected outlets have disputed the justification for the ban.The White House ban also disrupted the television press pool. CNN had been scheduled to provide video coverage of the president, but the other major US television networks suspended their participation in the rotating pool after CNN was excluded.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico sue Trump
CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the Trump administration on Monday, arguing that the White House restrictions violate their First Amendment rights. The outlets are seeking a temporary restraining order in federal court in Washington, DC, with a hearing expected this week.The three organisations said the government should not decide what news outlets can report or publish.The White House, meanwhile, has maintained that access to the White House is a privilege and defended its decision to restrict the outlets.The confrontation at the UN came as Trump continued his visit to New York for the General Assembly, where CNN, MS NOW and Politico were still able to cover his activities using UN-issued media credentials.