President Trump delivers a controversial speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, featuring a personal jab at Kaitlan Collins.
President Trump delivered a speech at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Friday, which was rescheduled from April due to an assassination attempt. During the event, the administration announced a series of remarks that included a personal critique of CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who received the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure. President Trump labeled the award as "fake" and compared Collins to trans identified actress Dylan Mulvaney, suggesting that neither woman was as feminine or smiley enough to matter. Conservative commentator Scott Jennings praised the president's opening and closing remarks, noting that the president's statement that the nation does not yield to political violence was a strong start. However, some critics noted that the president's jokes, particularly the comparison to Dylan Mulvaney, were met with silence from the press corps. While Collins remained professional, responding on the Daily Show that she prefers to keep the focus on the reporting rather than the personal feud. CNN leadership has reportedly discussed potentially scaling back its presence at next year's dinner due to the president's remarks.