Politics

Karoline Leavitt Smacks Down Kaitlan Collins: ‘I’m Not Taking Your Follow-Up’

Published

4 days ago

March 26, 2025

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt drew a line in the sand during Wednesday’s briefing, shutting down CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins with a pointed remark that has since gone viral. The exchange came amid questions surrounding a report from The Atlantic, which claimed that top Trump officials shared “war plans” on the encrypted app Signal.

As Collins pressed Leavitt for a follow-up question — interrupting the press secretary — Leavitt cut her off and turned to another reporter. “Does the president feel that he was misled by his national security advisors, whoever it was that told him there was no classified information in there, now that he’s seen these messages?” Collins asked.

“I’ve now been asked to answer this question three times by the both of you, and I’ve given you my answer,” Leavitt said. “The president feels the same today as he did yesterday.”

Collins jumped back in, “Sorry, on my follow up on what you were just saying…”

“Go ahead, Philip. I’m not taking your follow-up!” Leavitt snapped back at Collins.

“I have a follow-up on something you just said, though, Karoline.”

“Kaitlan, we’re not taking your follow-up,” Leavitt said again.

WATCH:

Leavitt’s firm handling of the briefing followed a chaotic news cycle involving The Atlantic’s story about an alleged leak of military plans. Over the weekend, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, claimed he was accidentally added to a Signal group chat that included Vice President J.D. Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

According to Goldberg, the chat contained “war plans” tied to an impending strike on Houthi strongholds in Yemen — a bombshell claim that quickly made headlines. But by Monday, after Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt slammed the article as “sensationalist spin,” The Atlantic quietly revised the headline.

What originally read “Here Are the War Plans…” was softened to “Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisors Shared on Signal.”

President Trump brushed off the report on Tuesday, calling The Atlantic “not much of a magazine” and insisting it had “no impact at all” on operations in Yemen. He praised his national security team and said Waltz had “learned a lesson” after mistakenly adding Goldberg.

Communications Director Steven Cheung tied the episode to a broader media pattern, writing, “From the ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ hoax to the fake documents case of the last four years… anti-Trump forces have tried to weaponize innocuous actions and turn them into faux outrage.”

Republican lawmakers also pushed back, noting that the Biden administration had previously supported Signal’s use for secure messaging. “It is my understanding that the Biden administration authorized Signal as a secure and record-compliant platform,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said on Fox News.

“This is just the latest attempt to make a nothing-burger look like a scandal.”

According to Goldberg’s article, the Signal group — created by Waltz — discussed targeting specifics, weaponry, and attack sequences related to the Yemen strikes. He said he realized the messages reflected real-world plans only after the strikes unfolded as described.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that any classified material was shared and insisted operational security had not been compromised. Still, some experts argued the content went too far for an unclassified platform and raised alarms over the government’s reliance on apps like Signal for sensitive discussions.

Trump, meanwhile, dismissed the incident as a minor “glitch” and criticized Goldberg for running with the story. Despite security analysts warning about the use of commercial platforms for military planning, the White House hinted it would continue using Signal, citing its encryption strengths.