Kaitlan Collins Serves Trump a Death Stare as He Unleashes Insults at Correspondents' Dinner

Kaitlan Collins shot daggers at Donald Trump as he unleashed a barrage of insults at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Trump, delivering his much-anticipated remarks at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., kicked off with jokes before spiraling into a lengthy tirade aimed at several adversaries, including Collins, a CNN reporter. Midway through, he appeared to nod off before resuming his marathon speech.

Earlier that night, Collins snagged the award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure for her reporting on Trump. Trump congratulated her with a backhanded compliment, saying, "It was all about me; it’s a fake. She shouldn’t get the award; it was a fake. But I didn’t mind."

He called Collins a "young, attractive woman" but criticized her for not smiling. "I said, 'Kaitlan, you ever smile? Smile! You have a nice position, you’re at CNN fake news!'"

Trump grimaced as he watched Collins accept her award, which included a $5,000 prize for winning the broadcast category.

Collins received her honor from CNN colleague Wolf Blitzer, who praised her "depth of knowledge, access, and context" in covering Trump and the Ukraine conflict. She embraced Blitzer on stage during the moment.

Before leaving the stage, Collins approached Trump to offer a handshake. He managed a strained smile as she walked toward him.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt observed with tight lips as Collins approached. Weijia Jang, the departing president of the White House Correspondents' Association, smiled and applauded for Collins from between them.

Collins has consistently clashed with Trump throughout his second presidential term. Recently, she mocked him while covering his Great American State Fair, which saw disappointing attendance.

"For a president who often fixates on crowd size, so far the fair on Washington's National Mall hasn’t exactly lived up to the hype," Collins remarked amid a sparse crowd.

Trump's remarks toward Collins have drawn criticism for being "misogynistic," according to his detractors. Last month, he targeted her in the Oval Office while responding to another reporter's question about his failed $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund proposal.

"A beautiful woman never smiles," Trump said of Collins, adding that she has "hatred in her eyes." He continued, "I never see a smile off her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes, like she has hatred, because we had borders, because we have a strong military, because we cut our taxes."

Trump escalated his attack when Collins raised concerns about the fund that opponents labeled a "slush fund," which could potentially compensate January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers. "The fake news, like CNN, like The New York Times, and like others, have abused our people so badly," he stated.

"And you should be ashamed of yourself. You used to be a conservative. She was a conservative from Alabama, can you believe it? But CNN does such false reporting."

This event marked the second attempt to hold the dinner after a gunman opened fire at the Washington Hilton Hotel in April. Cole Tomas Allen is accused of breaching a Secret Service security checkpoint while armed with firearms and knives.

A law enforcement officer was struck in their bulletproof vest during the gunfire exchange with Allen before he was subdued.