White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clashed with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday during a press briefing, cutting off the reporter twice as tensions escalated over questions regarding the release of Signal text messages by Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.
The confrontation occurred just one day after a similar incident where President Trump himself shut down Collins when she attempted to ask a follow-up question about the same issue.
On Wednesday, Leavitt was responding to reporters’ inquiries when Collins raised the matter of how the administration had handled the disclosure of sensitive communications from Trump’s national security team.
“Does the president feel that he was misled by his national security advisers, whoever it was that told him there was no classified information in there now that he’s seen these messages?” Collins asked.
Leavitt, appearing visibly irritated, responded sharply, saying, “I have now been asked and answered this question three times by both of you.”
She added, “And I have given you my answer. The president feels the same as he did yesterday.”
Despite this, Collins attempted a follow-up question. Leavitt quickly cut her off, saying, “I am not taking your follow-up,” and proceeded to call on another reporter.