CNN anchor Jake Tapper hit back at President Donald Trump on Saturday after the president posted a lengthy rant against his colleague, The Source host Kaitlan Collins.
On Truth Social, the president responded to comments Collins had made about his controversial $300 million White House ballroom, writing, “Caitlin Collin’s of Fake News CNN, always Stupid and Nasty, asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago.”
The president went on to offer a justification for the price of the ballroom—which was initially expected to cost $100 million to build, and is now being projected to cost $300 million—before returning to hurl more insults at CNN.
Tapper, who has worked at CNN since 2013, responded on X, offering a number of responses to Trump’s complaints.
“1) ‘Kaitlan Collins,‘” he began, correcting the president’s spelling of Collins’ name, “2) she’s smart 3) she’s nice.”
”4) it’s a legitimate question about construction of a controversial project on White House grounds 5) Thanks for the explanation,” he continued before adding, “6) generally speaking if someone or something is irrelevant, the President doesn’t talk about them.”
Trump’s tirade came shortly after Friday night’s episode of The Source saw Collins report from the White House grounds, telling viewers, “You see that giant crane that is over my shoulder? That‘s the latest addition to the construction zone here at the White House, where President Trump‘s ballroom is going to go eventually.”
She went on to inform viewers about the news that Trump had fired the architect overseeing the project, who said the ballroom was too big, adding, “It comes as we know that the size and the cost of this ballroom have ballooned, though they still maintain all of it is being paid for with private donations.”
CNN is a frequent target of the president’s ire, as is Collins herself; in March, Trump decried Collins (again spelling her name as ‘Caitlin’) as a “third rate, low ratings reporter.”
While Trump’s ballroom is primarily being funded by private donors—many of whom have government contracts—commentators have noted that his renovations fly in the face of the original vision of the White House as the People’s House.
Chelsea Clinton, who lived in the White House for eight years during her father’s presidency, wrote in USA Today, “Although I spent many of my formative years living in the White House, I always knew it wasn’t my house. The White House belongs to the American people, and that’s why we call it the People’s House. I never forgot that.”
