In yet another incident in which President Trump brought out his humorous big guns to dismantle a woke journalist who was attacking him, the president roasted CNN’s Kaitlin Collins to her face during a back-and-forth exchange on Air Force One. The incident occurred on Monday, June 16, as President Trump returned from the G7 Summit.
At issue in the spat between Trump and Collins was whether he was returning from the summit to deal with a potential ceasefire between Israel and Iran as the two continue fighting. President Macron of France had claimed that such a ceasefire was the goal and why the president had left early, something Trump denied.
Particularly, he denied it in a post on Truth Social, saying, “Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a “cease fire” between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!”
His exchange with Collins on the presidential jet began with her asking him about that particular Truth Social post, saying, “You just posted right before we took off that you’re not leaving because of a ceasefire. Why are you, can you elaborate?” Responding, the president vaguely indicated that America could do better than a ceasefire, saying, “We’re not looking for a ceasefire, I didn’t say it was going to be a cease fire… I think we’re looking for better than a ceasefire.”
Collins, shortly later, asked if the president intends to send Vice President JD Vance to deal with the Iranians, asking, “Are you sending the vice? Do you plan to send the vice president and Steve Witkoff? There’s reports that you want to send the vice president and Steve Witkoff to meet with the Iranians and have discussions? Is that something you’re considering?” Trump, again giving a vague answer, told her, “Not sure yet. I may. Depends on what happens when I get back.”
Things then started getting more contentious as Collins asked about the US military’s capability as regards dealing with the Iranian nuclear program. She asked, “Can I ask you, because there’s been some skepticism, is there any guarantee that if the U.S. Did get involved militarily that a U. S. Bomb could destroy Iran’s nuclear program and facilities?”
Firing back at Collins, President Trump let loose with an entertaining series of comments about there being no guarantees in life, saying, “There’s no guarantees on everything or anything in life, you know that. Look at you, right? There’s no guarantee. But you’re saying a guarantee of what?”
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Collins, perhaps annoyed and perturbed by the criticism, changed her question around a bit and asked, “Do you think if the US got involved militarily it would actually wipe out Iran’s nuclear program or where’s your assessment of that?” President Trump, obviously a bit annoyed but responding with his usual dose of comments so bombastic they were entertaining, he said, “I hope their program’s going to be wiped out long before then but they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.”
Collins, pushing her luck with the president’s patience, tried asking yet another question, saying, “Can I ask you where I-” Trump wasn’t having it with her trying to monopolize his time. Firing back, he made a comment at the expense of her and her network, saying, “Who else has a question other than CNN fake news?”
Watch them here:
Featured image credit: base image from the embedded video