Things got a bit testy, to say the least, at the Wednesday White House Press briefing. After Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt updated the room on Operation Epic Fury and other matters of state, she took questions, acknowledging the hand of CNN anchor and White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins for her question. Collins immediately alleged that in the Wednesday morning Pentagon Briefing by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine Hegseth complained about legacy media reports on the death of the six service members who lost their lives in a bomb blast.
Collins said, "Secretary Hegseth was complaining that it was front-page news about these six service members who were killed."
Leavitt at first looked visibly perturbed, but managed to comport herself.
LEAVITT: That's not what the Secretary said, Kaitlan, and that's not what the Secretary meant, and you know it. You know you are being disingenuous. There is not — we've never had a Secretary of Defense who cares more —
Collins interrupted her with what she wrote down from Hegseth's quote: "When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front page news, I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad," she read, then condescendingly intoned, "You know, we've covered the deaths of U.S. servicemembers under every president."
It's barely three months into 2026, and CNN is already on record for its duplicitous coverage. As our Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar reported, CNN, along with CBS, disseminated fake news surrounding the circumstances of the soldiers' deaths, making claims from anonymous sources that the soldiers killed in Kuwait were working in a "makeshift office space." So, CNN was already on a short leash for being all in the Kool-Aid without knowing the flavor.
At this point, Leavitt stopped mincing words and lit into Collins with the quickness. "The press does only want to make the president look bad. That's it. That's a fact."
Apparently, every White House correspondent in the room became offended at this point, as a loud clamor rose up. Leavitt tamped it down.
LEAVITT: Listen to me: Especially you, and especially CNN. And the Secretary of Defense cares deeply about our war fighters and our men and women in uniform. He travels all across this country to meet with them, to connect with them, and your network has hardly ever probably reported on that. You also have the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Chairman Caine, who's a brave patriot, standing alongside the Secretary at the Pentagon this morning, again expressing his condolences to these families. And I just told you that the President of the United States will be attending their dignified transfer so, please, so, please —
SecWar Pete Hegseth Updates on 'Operation Epic Fury': Not 'Mission Accomplished' - a 'Reality Check'
Collins attempted to deflect, saying that CNN plans to cover the dignified transfer. "That's not making the president look bad," Collins interjected, "That's showcasing that."
Leavitt was having none of it. Collins had let the genie out of the bottle, and there was no putting it back.
LEAVITT: We expect you to cover that as you should. We expect you to cover that as you should, Kaitlan. But you and your network know that you take every single thing this administration says and tries to use it to make the president look bad. That is an objectable fact.
Collins had clearly hit bottom, yet she continued to dig. "I don't think covering troop deaths is trying to make the president look bad," she said. Leavitt got in one last zinger, and did it with a smile.
LEAVITT: If you're trying to argue right now that CNN's overwhelming coverage is not negative of President Donald Trump, I think the American people would tend to disagree and your ratings would tend to disagree with that as well.
You can see the smoke and embers flying through the air after that exchange.
WATCH:
NEW: Karoline Leavitt calls out CNN for what she describes as "disingenuous" coverage of the U.S. strikes on Iran:
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 4, 2026
"That's not what the secretary said, Kaitlan. And that's not what the secretary meant, and you know it. You know you're being disingenuous."
"The press only wants… pic.twitter.com/Pb24FQD61S
Perhaps it is the fact that Leavitt is very pregnant or feeling the weighty requirement of rapid-fire response and information dissemination because of Operation Epic Fury, but she did not suffer fools today.
She was also correct. Having transcribed SecWar Hegseth's remarks this morning for an article (linked above), CNN did its usual act of cherry-picking statements to suit its own benefit. As Leavitt noted, CNN is adept at this, and like the good scribe she is, Collins quoted Hegseth's words incorrectly and placed them completely out of context.
When the SecWar made remarks surrounding this, he was discussing the gains that had been made in the Operation Epic Fury campaign, and then made reference to the fact that these gains are rarely reported by legacy media. However, as soon as there is a tragedy, like the death of our brave service members, the legacy media fixates on this alone, rather than reporting the full scope of what occurs on the ground.
Here are Hegseth's exact words from the transcript:
This is what the fake news misses. We've taken control of Iran's airspace and waterways without boots on the ground. We control their fate. But when a few drones get through, or tragic things happen, it's front page news. I get it, the press only wants to make the president look bad, but try for once to report the reality. The terms of this war will be set by us at every step.
Collins conveniently left out Hegseth asking the legacy media to simply cover all the facts. Cover the reality, not twist statements that work to give a black eye to the administration and its aims in winning the campaign. Once again, Collins and CNN failed at this.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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