Their contentious dynamic escalated further during an October 23 press conference, where Collins challenged Trump regarding his decision to pardon Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire co-founder of Binance. She questioned whether Zhao’s connections to the Trump family’s cryptocurrency ventures influenced the pardon. Trump countered, saying, “A lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything.” Collins quickly pointed out that Zhao had confessed to the charges, prompting Trump to retort with an eight-word dismissal: “You know nothing about nothing. You’re fake news.”

Defending his actions, Trump stated, “I don’t know him. I don’t believe I’ve ever met him, but I’ve been told he had a lot of support, and they said that what he did is not even a crime. He was persecuted by the Biden administration, and so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.”

This incident is not an isolated one, as Trump has previously launched strong verbal attacks against journalists questioning his decisions. Just the day before, on October 22, Trump criticized Reuters’ White House Correspondent Jeff Mason for asking about the transparency surrounding his plans for a new White House State Ballroom and the demolition of the historic East Wing. Trump retorted, “I haven’t been transparent? Really? I’ve shown this to everybody that would listen. Third-rate reporters didn’t see it because they didn’t look. You’re a third-rate reporter, always have been.”

The term “third-rate reporter” is one Trump has used in the past. In 2018, he labeled New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman with this disparaging remark. He echoed a similar sentiment last November on Truth Social, referring to her as “Magot” instead of her name. “Will the failing New York Times apologize to its readers for getting years of ‘Trump’ coverage so wrong?” he wrote. “They write such phony ‘junk,’ knowing full well how incorrect it is, only meaning to demean. Magot Hagerman, a third rate writer and fourth rate intellect, writes story after story, always terrible, and yet I almost never speak to her.”

Trump went on to defend the former Binance CEO, saying: “I don’t know him. I don’t believe I’ve ever met him, but I’ve been told … he had a lot of support, and they said that what he did is not even a crime. … he was persecuted by the Biden administration, and so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.” 

This isn’t the first time President Donald Trump has clapped back at members of the press by insulting their supposed lack of professionalism — and he doesn’t save all of his aggression for CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, either. In fact, on October 22, just one day prior to his brutal takedown of Collins, he took Reuters’ White House Correspondent Jeff Mason to task for questioning him about claims that he hadn’t been “transparent” about his construction plans for the extravagant and costly White House State Ballroom and the demolition of the White House’s historical East Wing. “I haven’t been transparent? Really?” he asked (via Mediaite). “I’ve shown this to everybody that would listen. Third-rate reporters didn’t see it because they didn’t look. You’re a third-rate reporter, always have been.”

That wasn’t the first time Trump threw out the insult “third-rate reporter” either. In 2018, the POTUS referred to New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman as such. He repeated a variation of the insult last November in a Truth Social rant in which he also referred to the journalist as “Magot” instead of her name. “Will the failing New York Times apologize to its readers for getting years of ‘Trump’ coverage so wrong,” he wrote. “They write such phony ‘junk,’ knowing full well how incorrect it is, only meaning to demean. Magot Hagerman, a third rate writer and fourth rate intellect, writes story after story, always terrible, and yet I almost never speak to her.”