President Donald Trump has singled out CNN's Kaitlan Collins for particular harassment — and it’s not just because she asks him tough questions.
To the president, his vehemence towards the star reporter is personal, according to a former Republican strategist with insider knowledge.
Rick Wilson, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, told Raw Story in an exclusive interview that a source close to Trump told him that Trump resents Collins because he feels she owes him for her success.
Trump has gone after multiple women in the White House press corps, and has a history of attacking them with derogatory remarks and put-downs. None has come under more criticism than Collins.
"A young beautiful woman [who] never smiles," Trump said about her in the Oval Office earlier this month. "I never see a smile on her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes."
He's previously called her "stupid and nasty" on Truth Social, and told her to "be quiet."
The resentment is born from an interview Collins conducted years ago, Wilson said.
“Part of that is Trump’s head game he plays with people in general,” Wilson told Raw Story. “He aggressively messes with people — that has always happened. That’s been a character trait of his for a long time, and for Collins it’s particularly personal.”
“Trump believes that the CNN interview he did with Kaitlan Collins, that she did when she was first elevated by Jeff Zucker, Trump believes that she owes him because that ‘made her career,’” Wilson said.
Collins moderated a tense live CNN Town Hall with Trump in May 2023. In 2024, shortly after Trump's election win, Collins was promoted into a position that was “unprecedented,” according to CNN. She was now an anchor and chief White House correspondent.
And, Wilson said, Trump thinks her meteoric rise came because of the 2023 event.
He thinks "she owes him," and she has made no effort to pay that debt, Wilson said. And he has resented that.
“I think he probably does believe that,” Wilson said.
Raw Story contacted CNN, Collins’ employer. The company and anchor declined to comment.
Just hours before the Oval Office interaction between Trump and Collins on June 3, Collins appeared on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.” During the late-night show on June 2, Cohen asked her if she or anyone else will ever snap as Trump pushes them.
Cohen noted that Trump has shown serious disdain for the female reporters at the White House.
"It seems to me that at some point someone is going to break," Cohen said.
"I mean, do you ever see that happening? Like, is there someone in the press corps that you look at and think they're going to break?" Cohen asked Collins.
Collins said that most reporters have focused on the questions and covering the stories at hand, and added “never say never.”
Wilson said it comes down to a few key facts — and that drives many women facing his aggressive remarks to push forward and question Trump — despite the insults.
“Notoriously, Donald Trump is not a fan of women,” Wilson said.
“That White House hard pass is pretty damn magical in making people shut up and behave,” he added. “White House correspondent is traditionally a pathway to greater prominence in the media, so people are willing to basically take the s— from Donald Trump to be there.”
Just days later, Trump berated NBC's Kristen Welker and walked off the set of “Meet the Press,” ending the interview during a heavy rainstorm beneath a tin roof barn in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, after refusing to provide any evidence supporting his claims that the 2020 election was rigged, among other false points he tried to argue. After Welker pushed back and challenged him, he had a meltdown and called it off.
"Let's call it quits, because I've had enough. Thank you, darling," Trump said.
