Tense Exchange Erupts as CNN Reporter Presses Trump Press Secretary on Holiday Messaging

On Thursday, things got heated in the White House briefing room when CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt disagreed about what President Donald Trump said recently about rising costs. The back-and-forth quickly became the major theme of an already heated briefing about the administration’s message about the economy and how affordable things are as the holidays neared.

Collins started the talk by asking why the president encouraged parents to cut back on their holiday shopping if the government believes the economy is doing well. She wanted to know what Trump had stated earlier in the week when he told families to think about buying less toys for their kids just two weeks before Christmas. Leavitt’s scathing retort came quickly away since the inquiry sounded so urgent.

Leavitt backed up what the president said by noting that Trump wants Americans to buy things made in the US and support local businesses. She noted that things created in the US can cost a little more, but they are better quality and help local businesses develop. Leavitt added that this message aligns with the administration’s bigger plan for tariffs, which is to boost production in the US.

She then talked about what she called good economic signals, such how inflation has gone down, earnings have gone up, and gas prices have gone down across the country. Leavitt claimed that major economic indicators are becoming better compared to the prior administration. She also added that Trump is trying to rectify what she called a “economic hole” that he got from the last president.

Collins pushed back, arguing that the economy doesn’t look good for many families and that grocery prices are still high. Leavitt responded again that inflation is going down and dismissed the worries as part of what she called “inaccurate narratives” peddled by the press as more reporters posed the same questions.

Leavitt’s claim that Collins was ignoring facts in favor of political stories made the conflict even more heated. She said that she was like the press office of the last government because authorities at the time denied inflation and lied about what was going on at the border. Leavitt assured Collins that she was giving him correct information backed up by solid facts, and she said that the reporter didn’t believe her.

The stress moved to other portions of the briefing. Leavitt again took aim at CNN when asked about the ongoing bidding war between Netflix and Paramount to buy Warner Bros., the business that owns CNN. She said that the president thinks CNN needs new leaders because fewer people are watching it. She also made it clear that he appreciates both companies that are taking part in the talks.

Soon after the briefing ended, the White House’s Rapid Response account slammed Collins on social media, calling her a political mouthpiece instead of a journalist. Collins and the president’s staff had already fought before. Trump himself attacked Collins on Truth Social last week when she asked him why the cost of a new ballroom makeover at one of his facilities was so expensive. Trump branded her question “stupid,” although Collins later said that her true question was about a foreign policy issue that came up during the same conversation.

The protracted fight illustrates that the relationship between the Trump administration and certain big news organizations is getting worse as political tensions rise. With the holidays coming up and many Americans worrying about the economy, Thursday’s talk made it plain how broken the myth about how affordable things are and how the economy is growing has become.