Watch: Trump's VA Sec. Turns the Tables on Smug CNN Reporter, Cornering Her With a Question She Can’t Answer

In a battle of the unrelated Collinses, Doug seemed to leave Kaitlan struggling for a response.

For those who missed the must-watch moment on Thursday night, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins joined CNN for an interview with primetime anchor and chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

Doug Collins expected to discuss issues related to veterans. Kaitlan Collins, however, opted to focus on a topic he had no direct involvement in—namely, “Signal-gate,” the manufactured controversy surrounding a group chat where administration officials discussed a strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen, inadvertently including The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg in the conversation via the encrypted messaging app.

By the time of the interview, the so-called scandal had largely dwindled to speculation over whether someone might face repercussions. (Spoiler: Maybe, but not yet.)

Nonetheless, inviting a VA official only to press him on an unrelated matter was questionable at best. So, Collins flipped the script, steering the conversation in his own direction. The CNN anchor did not appreciate the reversal—unsurprisingly.

A now-viral clip, shared on X by the White House’s Rapid Response 47 account, begins with yet another persistent inquiry about how The Atlantic obtained the messages.

“Do you believe that a mistake was made, though, to have this conversation to out a reporter and to have it on an un unsupported … classified group setting?” Kaitlan pressed.

“Kaitlan, I’ve just told you, I’ve just answered the question,” Doug responded. “I wasn’t a part of it and you know, I’m not gonna speculate more than what the president’s already talked about and those who’ve been involved to talked about about the veterans–“

“Yeah, and I have do have questions about the veterans, but given what we saw with the group chat and how this was used, you are a member of the cabinet,” Kaitlan interjected. “You obviously know these other members, several of them who were in there.

“Is this typical for the cabinet to have conversations over Signal? Is this something that you use?”

At this point, Doug had enough. Rather than playing along with the off-topic barrage, he took the opportunity to pose a question of his own.

“Kaitlan, since you undoubtedly do not want to talk about the VA, I have a question as VA secretary,” he stated.

“I want to ask you—because I’ve been curious about this, because my job is to take care of veterans—and I would like to know why CNN is hostile to veterans, especially one in Florida where you just had a $5 million dollar defamation suit for defaming a veteran.”

Doug Collins was referring to Zachary Young, a former Navy veteran who secured a $5 million judgment against CNN in a Florida court after the network falsely labeled him an “illegal profiteer” for his efforts to extract vulnerable individuals from Afghanistan.

“Your employees actually said ‘We’re going to nail him,’” Doug Collins pointed out. “I have a question for you, Kaitlan: Is that employee still employed? Are you really concerned about veterans?

“So if you want to talk about veterans now, you want to talk to hear from CNN, as the veteran cabinet secretary, why CNN seems to have a problem with veterans.”

Kaitlan appeared caught off guard. “Well, Mr. Secretary, respectfully, my question was about whether or not you, as a member of the cabinet, use this, and respectfully, I’m conducting the investigation and I do have a lot of questions for you on Veterans Affairs, but I don’t think–“

“No, Kaitlan, I don’t think—what you want to do is talk about a subject I’ve already answered,” Doug shot back. “And if you want to continue like this, that’s fine, but … it does me no good to speculating on something that I’ve already been asked and answered.”

“So I’ve already asked and answered your question, so why don’t you answer mine?” he challenged.

“Respectfully, sir, I’m the one who’s asking the questions here,” Kaitlan replied.

Respectfully, that response didn’t do her any favors. Respectfully:

Predictably, Kaitlan Collins could not answer that question without tarnishing CNN’s reputation. But at least they squeezed another day out of “Signal-gate.”

Moving forward, this approach should be a standard playbook for the administration. Trump and Vance have mastered the technique, and Doug Collins proved himself more than capable as well.

If CNN insists on nitpicking others while ignoring its own glaring issues, then the administration should return the favor—every single time. Inviting the VA secretary to discuss veterans only to pivot to a weak scandal was a low move, but rest assured, they’ll sink even lower. And if they want another Collins vs. Collins showdown, the door is wide open.