There was one problem with President Donald Trump branding a reporter a loser, and CNN anchor Jake Tapper spotted it on live television.
Tapper, who anchors “The Lead,” aired the exchange on his Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, program, after Trump had stood in the White House press briefing room earlier that day and told CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins she was a loser at the network. The rebuttal took one sentence.
“Kind of incredible to hear President Trump, after last Tuesday’s results, calling anyone else a loser,” Tapper said on air. He followed it with a single word: “Interesting.”
The Question That Set Trump Off
Trump had made a surprise appearance in the briefing room alongside UFC boss Dana White, who turned down the president’s joking offer to make him press secretary.
Collins asked the president whether he would stand by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth even if Congress impeached him. Trump said he would, and credited Hegseth with winning two wars — an apparent reference to the strike on Venezuela and the war in Iran, which is still being fought.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., had introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth on the House floor that day, accusing the Pentagon chief of waging war against Iran without congressional authorization and of authorizing unlawful military operations. The allegations have not been adjudicated. When Collins noted that Massie has accused Hegseth of carrying out illegal acts, Trump turned his fire on the congressman and the correspondent at once.
“Massie’s a loser, just like you’re a loser at CNN, just like your ratings are a loser,” Trump told Collins. He also asked reporters why no one had moved to impeach the people who ran the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, contrasting 18 U.S. deaths over seven months of the Iran war with the far longer and deadlier war in Vietnam.
Five States and “It Ain’t Kaitlan”
Tapper took the argument to X on Nov. 10.
“There’s one person in this exchange whose behavior, hand-picked candidates, and policies were repudiated handily by voters with historical election losses coast to coast — including in Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio and Georgia — and it ain’t Kaitlan,” he wrote.
Trump’s attack came one week after midterm elections in which Democrats claimed several Republican strongholds, defeats widely read as a rebuke of the president amid voter frustration over persistently high inflation and his war with Iran. The results set off a blame game inside the GOP. Trump has already begun reshaping his inner circle, ousting chief of staff Susie Wiles and replacing her with Stephen Miller.
The Defense Secretary Trump Graded A+
Hegseth faces mounting speculation that he could become the administration’s next major casualty, with a growing number of Republicans pointing to the Iran war as a key factor in the party’s performance. Trump has insisted he is standing by him, and Hegseth’s showy pushback from the podium on Tuesday, Nov. 10, drew an A+ from the president.
What He Called Her in September
Collins has been in Trump’s sights before. In July, he compared her to trans actress and influencer Dylan Mulvaney during his insult-heavy White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech. In September, he snapped at her at a press stop and then called her a “SLEAZEBAG” in a late-night social media post. Tapper answered that one on X as well, writing that he and his colleagues would keep doing their jobs and covering subjects voters care about, among them the Iran war and the economy. Trump has also admonished Collins for not smiling enough.
The clashes extend well beyond one reporter. Trump told Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey “quiet, piggy!” after she raised the Epstein files, and said “60 Minutes” correspondent Norah O’Donnell was a “disgrace” for bringing up his ties to Jeffrey Epstein in an interview.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico remain locked in a legal battle with Trump after he tried to bar them from the White House in September. The White House has repeatedly blocked CNN from taking part in pool coverage while that fight plays out.
Fox News viewers and commenters criticized Trump’s remarks about Collins, calling his tone “sexist” and praising her for keeping her composure. Collins, for her part, tends not to return fire; she has said in interviews that she finds it more useful to remind the public which question set the president off. “There are times when I watch him, and I think to myself, ‘This can’t be real,’” she has said.
