President Donald Trump clashed with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins during an Oval Office meeting Monday while discussing deported El Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia. As Trump welcomed El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Collins asked if he would request Bukele’s help in returning Abrego Garcia. Trump interrupted, dismissing her as a "very low-rated anchor." Collins continued unfazed, asking about efforts to bring the man back.
Attorney General Pam Bondi responded, saying Abrego Garcia was in the country illegally and had been identified by immigration courts as a member of MS-13. “It’s up to El Salvador” if they want to return him, she said. Trump accused CNN of having a biased agenda, saying they ask “with a slant, because they are totally slanted” and added, “They don’t know what’s happening, that’s why nobody is watching them.”
Trump brought in advisor Stephen Miller, who said it was “very arrogant even for American media to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens.” He noted Trump designated MS-13 a foreign terrorist organization, making Abrego Garcia ineligible for immigration relief in the U.S.
Although a court ordered the U.S. to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia, the Justice Department argued that the executive branch alone handles foreign policy and that courts cannot compel diplomatic actions. The order, they said, only requires removal of domestic barriers that prevent his return.
The Supreme Court upheld the ruling by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, stating the U.S. must support Abrego Garcia’s release and treat the case as though he had not been deported. The Trump administration portrayed the decision as a win, emphasizing it confirmed the president’s foreign policy authority. “We won a case 9-0,” Miller said. “And people like CNN are portraying it as a loss, as usual, because they want foreign terrorists in the country who kidnap women and children.”
Collins followed up by reminding Trump he had said he would respect the court’s ruling. Trump shot back, “Why don’t you just say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country?’ Why can’t you just say that? Why do you go over and over — and that’s why nobody watches you anymore. You have no credibility.”
Trump also criticized CNN more broadly, saying during the meeting with Bukele, “I think they hate our country,” and accused them of suppressing news about reduced illegal border crossings under his administration. Collins, who hosts “The Source” and is CNN’s White House correspondent, did not respond to the personal remarks during the exchange.
A CNN spokesperson declined to comment on the incident when contacted by Fox News Digital. Meanwhile, the Justice Department maintained in a court filing that the order to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return exceeded judicial authority. They argued that courts have “no authority to direct the Executive Branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner.”