Donald Trump complained about never seeing Kaitlan Collins smile, and the CNN host is hitting back at the president. During a White House press briefing, Collins asked him about the victims of convicted s-x offender Jeffrey Epstein. Instead of giving her a direct response, Trump chose to complain about Collins not smiling.
The Republican President called the CNN host “the worst reporter” before saying, “I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face.” While this is not the first time Trump targeted a reporter, especially a female, his comment sure sparked backlash.
On Wednesday, JD Vance appeared to defend Trump on The Megyn Kelly Show, adding fuel to the fire. “She’s asking a question, the president says, ‘Why don’t you ever smile?’ Yeah, it’s actually, like, so perceptive,” said the Vice President.
President Trump destroyed Kaitlyn once again – I’ve never seen you smile 😂 pic.twitter.com/3g1JS1aCfe
— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) February 3, 2026
“Even if you’re asking a tough question, even if you take your job very seriously, like, does it always have to be so antagonistic?” He went on. Vance added, “Have some fun, right? You can’t always take yourself too seriously. You’re gonna have a heart attack. And that’s too much of the Washington press corps. And of course, they don’t act like that when the other guys are in power, so there is a political bias angle to it.”
JD Vance also noted that he has a “decent relationship” with Kaitlan Collins, “which is unusual given she’s from CNN.” Megyn Kelly, who is a former Fox News host, then started bragging about how she had the same complaints about Collins’ smile.
The political pundit recalled how Roger Ailes, the former Fox News CEO, “used to tell us that, ‘Every once in a while, remember to smile. Show the viewers that you have a heart.”
Collins has now responded to Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Kelly. “Yes, Megyn Kelly there was citing Roger Ailes, her former boss at Fox News, that she accused of s–ual harassment,” said Collins.
J.D. Vance praised Donald Trump for telling Kaitlan Collins to “smile” in the Oval Office.
He called it “perceptive.”
She was asking about girls sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein.
That’s the mindset.
Dismiss survivors. Mock the journalist. Applaud the cruelty. pic.twitter.com/sKIFMPPHV6
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) February 4, 2026
The CNN host was referring to the allegation Kelly made while promoting her 2016 book Settle for More. At that time, the right-wing host told Good Morning America that Ailes “tried to kiss me three times [in his office], so I rejected that, and when I rejected that, he asked me when my contract was up.”
Kelly also said that the reason she kept her mouth shut was that it would have been a “suicide mission.”
Kaitlan Collins said, “Again, the point of the question was what the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are saying and the justice and the accountability that they want to see. It’s nothing to smile about.”
She also received the support of Annie Farmer, who is an Epstein survivor. “I know I don’t just speak for myself when I say I really appreciate how persistent you were in questioning this administration about their failure with this release,” she said.
Farmer added, “I don’t think it’s something to smile about. And I thought you handled it very appropriately.”
