CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Torpedoes Trump ‘We’ve Won’ Claim With One Big Question

CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins torpedoed President Donald Trump’s insistence that “we’ve won” the war in Iran by asking one simple but stubborn rhetorical question.

As the Iran war rages through a third week, attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have exacerbated surging prices and roiled the stock market.

Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Maria Bartiromo on Thursday morning that the U.S. “may unsanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water” to increase supply on the global market.

On Wednesday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins opened her show with a recap of Trump’s day of “conflicting messages” and delivered a stumper to Trump on his claim of victory:

CNN has learned that the administration is preparing to deploy a 1,000 soldiers with the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. That’s in addition to the thousands of marines and sailors who are already on the way.

Even as we’re hearing from President Trump sending messages like this one from the Oval Office today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I think we’re going to end it. I can’t tell you for sure. You know, I don’t like to say this, we’ve won this — this war has been won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Of course, one might ask if the President does believe this war has been won, why thousands more U.S. service members are being sent to the region tonight. That question for the President comes, as he also says that the United States and Iran are discussing potential peace talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We’re in negotiations right now. They’re doing it, along with Marco, JD. We have a number of people doing it. And the other side, I can tell you, they’d like to make a deal.

REPORTER: There’s been reports that the vice president is leading those negotiations. Is that true?

TRUMP: Well, he’s involved in them. JD is involved. And Marco is involved. And Jared Kushner is involved, very smart guy. And Steve Witkoff, smart guy, is involved. And I’m involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: As the President cites everyone who is helping with these talks. We do know tonight that there have been communications between the United States and Iran, through intermediaries, about sitting down and talking, and that news came as in President Trump’s telling today, he said it may not have been exactly well-received by his Pentagon chief who was in the room.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I said, Pete, and General Raizin’ Caine, I think this thing is going to be settled very soon.

Here they go, Oh, that’s too bad.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Pete didn’t want it to be settled.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: And when Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom the President was referring to there, was asked to give his update on the war from the Oval Office today, this statement from Secretary Hegseth stood out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: And that’s why we see ourselves as part of this negotiation as well. We negotiate with bombs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Apparently, those bombs, which are still dropping tonight, have not stopped the Iranians yet, according to President Trump, from sending him what he has described, mysteriously so, and White House officials have declined to elaborate in the hours since this comment, after he said the Iranians sent him a very big present.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They did something yesterday that was amazing, actually. They gave us a present, and the present arrived today, and it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. And I’m not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize, and they gave it to us, and they said they were going to give it. So, that meant one thing to me. We’re dealing with the right people.

REPORTER: Was it nuclear-related?

TRUMP: No, it wasn’t nuclear-related. It was oil and gas related.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.

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