Donald Trump turned the Kaitlan Collins Trump dispute into a public spectacle on Friday night, mocking Collins during the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner and then widening the attack with a Sunday morning post. Collins answered on Instagram after the dinner, while Dylan Mulvaney later responded to Trump’s remarks with a video of her own.
White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Trump told Collins, “I want to personally congratulate ’s Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award.” He then added, “It was all about me.” He also said, “It’s a fake — she shouldn’t get the award, it was a fake,” and told her to “just smile.”
He went further by folding Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney into the insult. Trump said, “I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney.” He also said, “Dylan Mulvaney cost Bud Light $35 billion in market cap.”
Kaitlan Collins on Instagram
After Trump’s comments, Collins posted a series of photos on Instagram and said, “The second best part of last night’s White House Correspondents Dinner was receiving an award from my friend and mentor, @wolfblitzer.” She added, “The first was reminding everyone why the First Amendment — and asking uncomfortable questions that people in power don’t like — matters.”
That response tied the award back to the work Collins was being recognized for, rather than to Trump’s criticism. It also put the exchange in the context of the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where Collins’ award became part of the public back-and-forth.
Dylan Mulvaney Responds
Trump escalated the dispute again on Sunday morning by sharing a photoshopped image of Collins’ face on Mulvaney’s body in the Bud Light ad. Mulvaney then posted a video on Instagram and said, “Now, the president also brought up a video I did over three years ago.”
She said, “And yet I am still his topic of conversation all these years later.” Mulvaney added, “So maybe I shouldn’t want to be professionally supported by an administration that doesn’t personally support me or so many others in this country.”
Mulvaney also complicated Trump’s attempt to use her as a target. She said, “In fact, maybe being publicly mocked and criticized by this administration is actually like the greatest compliment of all because it puts me in the company of some of like the most brilliant, empathetic people in our world today.” The exchange now sits with no further scheduled step in the record, just a cleaner read on who chose to keep the fight going after the dinner ended.
