CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Calls Trump Out Over Epstein Files in Post-SOTU Hit With Pelosi: ‘What Did You Make of That?’

CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins called out President Donald Trump’s failure to mention the Epstein Files in his 2026 State of the Union address as she interviewed Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) after the speech.

The president gave a record-long State of the Union speech Tuesday night that included many of the elements that have become familiar to Trump speeches and SOTUs in general.

One of those elements was the featuring of guests in attendance, like the U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey team and Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk. Democrats invited many Jeffrey Epstein survivors and wore pins calling for the full release of the Epstein Files.

During Tuesday night’s CNN State of the Union Analysis coverage, Collins called out the fact that despite the presence of so many survivors, Trump didn’t mention the Epstein Files once and asked Pelosi “What did you make of that moment?”:

COLLINS: And Speaker Pelosi, I noticed you’re wearing something that a lot of your Democratic colleagues are wearing, which is this white button that says, release the files

PELOSI: Yes, release the files.

COLLINS: The president’s speech was record long, but it did actually not — he didn’t make any mention of Jeffrey Epstein during that speech despite the fact that there were some survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s in the chamber.

PELOSI: Many were.

COLLINS: What did you make of that moment?

PELOSI: Well, it was — again, I don’t even know if that was State of the Nation speech. You know, it’s in the Constitution that the president shall send a statement of the State of the Nation. It can only be in a manual envelope. It doesn’t have to be a speech, but it has become a speech. But he ignored the State of the Nation. The State of the Nation is about our integrity as well, freedom of the press, independence of the judiciary, rule of the law, all of that, separation of power. Forget it with him.

And so, the fact that — he knows this is a vulnerability. And we’ve had lots of conversations with the survivors and with other people who have been survivors in the community. And that’s why the American people are so insistent on that, that this thing has continued. But the fact that he didn’t mention it shows his vulnerability, his exposure in all of these.

Watch above via CNN State of the Union Analysis coverage.

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