Trump tears into CNN's Kaitlan Collins over Epstein

President Donald Trump got into an Oval Office tussle with CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday when she prodded him with questions about Jeffrey Epstein's victims. Trump had gathered Republican lawmakers in the Oval Office to sign a bill to reopen the government after this week's partial shutdown. The door opened to talk about the Epstein files, when another reporter asked the president his thoughts on former British Ambassador Peter Mandelson facing additional fallout from his connections to the scandal. 

Trump brushed off the question about U.K. politics and segued back to the U.S., claiming, 'It's really a Democrat problem, it's not a Republican problem.' With that, Collins pointed out that there were mentions of both Elon Musk - who funded the president's reelection campaign - and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the trove. The president said that he hadn't read the latest Epstein files. 'I have a lot of things I'm doing. A lot of things,' he said. 'You mentioned two names. I'm sure they're fine, I'm sure they're fine. Otherwise, there would have been major headlines.' 

Collins then noted how several survivors of Epstein's [abuse] have complained about how many redactions have been contained in the files, with the most recent batch consisting of around 3 million documents. Trump pushed back, saying he had heard complaints from some people that too much content had been released. 'And you tell me something else,' he directed at Collins. He then tried to move on. 'I think it's really time for the country to get onto something else,' the president said. 'Now that nothing came out about me - other than it was a conspiracy against me, literally, by Epstein and other people.' 'But I think it's time now for the country to maybe get onto something else,' he said, floating 'like healthcare.'

Trump has been on a tear about Fire & Fury author Michael Wolff, suggesting that Epstein could be a 'bullet' and end the president's 2016 campaign. When Collins piped back up and asked the president what he would say to survivors, the back-and-forth turned personal. 'You are the worst reporter,' he told her. 'CNN has no ratings because of people like you.' 'You know, she's a young woman,' he told the lawmakers beside him. 'I don't think I've ever seen you smile. I've known you for 10 years. I don't think I've ever seen a smile on your face,' he then said to the CNN host.

Collins became a household name during Trump's first term after covering the White House for the Tucker Carlson-founded Daily Caller before moving to the cable news channel. She shot back, 'Well, I'm asking you about survivors of Epstein.' 'You know why you're not smiling?' Trump replied. 'Because you know you're not telling the truth and you're a very dishonest organization and they should be ashamed of you.' Collins got the last word. 'These are survivors of [an abuser,]' the journalist said. Trump ignored her and turned to another reporter's question.