Donald Trump's furious clash with CNN reporter as 'breaking news' report sparks outrage

's ongoing clash with a CNN reporter has hit its breaking point. Tensions soared in the White House briefing room as CNN's chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, engaged in a fiery exchange with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The spar occurred amid the ongoing Signalgate controversy, where a reporter from The Atlantic was accidentally added to a group chat that included top security officials. The 32-year-old journalist, positioned in the front row, directed a volley of questions at Donald Trump's press secretary, only to be abruptly silenced after her initial inquiry. "Kaitlan, I'm not taking your follow-up," Mrs. Leavitt declared.

This latest incident is just one of many ongoing battles that have come to define the interactions between mainstream media representatives and the current administration. The clash escalated from a previous altercation concerning claims that presidential pardons, reportedly signed using a robotic pen under Joe Biden's administration, were thereby invalidated - a point Collins challenged but received no direct response to. Instead, Leavitt dismissed her: "You're a reporter, you should find out."

Adding to the intensity, former President Donald Trump has openly criticised what he calls "legacy media" journalists such as Collins, accusing them of bias and illegitimate reporting practices. "I believe that CNN and MSNBC, who literally write 97.6 per cent bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party, and in my opinion, they're really corrupt, and they're illegal. What they do is illegal," Trump stated emphatically in a speech at the justice department.

Despite these confrontations, Collins maintains her commitment to journalistic integrity. "This has always been my mantra, kind of since round one, it's not about me. If you let them make it about you, I think you're losing," she shared with the New Yorker. Collins's journey has not been without its challenges. She first gained significant attention as a White House correspondent during the Trump administration, a role marked by its intense scrutiny.

She was temporarily banned from the White House in 2018 after pressing Trump on his relations with Vladimir Putin, which led the White House Correspondents Association to denounce the ban as "wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak."

Since then, Collins has continued to rise through the ranks. During a town hall in New Hampshire at the height of the presidential election in 2024, she once again found herself at odds with Trump over his claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Trump's frustration was palpable, as he called her a "nasty person" in response to her persistent questioning.

Last week, the White House announced it would reshuffle the briefing room's seating plan, putting mainstream media at the back and inviting favoured journalists to the front of the room where Collins normally sits. "It doesn't really bother me when [Mr Trump] gets upset at my questions, because our job is to ask the questions. He could respond however he wants to respond. That is his prerogative, and it shouldn't really influence what you're asking or how you're asking it, in my view."