CNN host Kaitlan Collins responded forcefully Monday evening after President Trump publicly criticized her following a contentious Oval Office exchange regarding the deportation of a man to El Salvador.
On her primetime program, Collins accused the president of walking back earlier commitments to honor a Supreme Court decision that required his administration to reverse the deportation.
She aired segments of the Oval Office confrontation, including moments when Trump dismissed her questions and had top officials like Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller justify the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was sent to an El Salvador prison.
“In the Oval Office today, the president seemed to backtrack what he said about the Supreme Court and instead leaned on some of his top aides to make the case,” Collins told viewers during her show, The Source.
The Trump administration has alleged that Abrego Garcia is linked to the notorious MS-13 gang. However, his relatives dispute those accusations, and legal records confirm he has not been charged with any crimes either in the United States or in El Salvador.
Government lawyers have admitted that his removal was improper, noting that a 2019 ruling by an immigration judge had blocked his deportation. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the administration must “facilitate” bringing him back to the U.S.
“The administration has made clear they do not intend to seek this man’s return despite a Supreme Court ruling in recent days that the White House must ‘facilitate’ it, and despite the comment from President Trump just a few days ago,” Collins reported before playing footage of Trump aboard Air Force One.
Speaking from the aircraft, Trump had said: “If the Supreme Court said bring somebody back, I would do that. I would respect the Supreme Court.”
During Monday’s Oval Office meeting, Collins pressed the president directly, asking if he would comply with the high court’s ruling and make efforts to return Abrego Garcia to the United States.
“How long do we have to answer this question? Why don’t you just say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country’? Why can’t you just say that? Why do you go over and over — and that’s why nobody watches you anymore. You have no credibility,” Trump replied sharply.
Trump went on to call Collins a “low-rated” anchor and shifted the conversation to Bondi, who reiterated the administration’s stance.
He then invited Miller to weigh in and once more lashed out at CNN.
“Can you just also respond to that question because you know it’s asked by CNN and they always ask it with a slant because they’re totally slanted because they don’t know what’s happening,” Trump told Miller.
“That’s why nobody’s watching them,” he added.
This isn’t the first time Trump has clashed with Collins. Just last month, he abruptly ended a press conference by cutting her off and saying, “Excuse me, I didn’t pick you.

{Matzav.com}