‘Answer My Question!’: Trump Official Gets Heated When Asked About Group Chat

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins snapped on Wednesday over CNN host Kaitlan Collins’ repeated questions about Trump officials using the third-party messaging app Signal to discuss national security matters.

“Well, Mr. Secretary, respectfully, my question was about —,” the CNN host asked the VA secretary.

“No, answer my question, Kaitlan. Answer my question, Kaitlan,” pressed Doug Collins as he raised his voice amid crosstalk while trying to pivot to the network being found liable for defaming a U.S. Navy veteran in January.

He later continued, “What you want to do is talk about a subject that I’ve already answered.”

The VA secretary lost his cool with the CNN host who, moments earlier, asked how he’d feel if a U.S. Navy fighter pilot was “in the air” while officials discussed an upcoming attack in an “unclassified group chat.”

Doug Collins told Collins he wasn’t involved in the chat and further deflected by discussing his role as head of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

His remarks come as the Trump administration continues to face questions over the breach of a group chat where officials discussed U.S. strikes in Yemen.

National security experts told NPR that “heads are exploding” over the breach, noting that officials in the chat didn’t raise any alarm about sharing war plans over Signal, citing reporting by The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

Later in the interview, the CNN host asked the VA secretary about the Signal scandal again which led Doug Collins to stress that he already “answered” her.

He then flipped to talk about the defamation lawsuit, one that saw CNN ultimately being ordered to pay $5 million in damages to U.S. Navy veteran and contractor Zachary Young over claims tied to a 2021 segment on the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Collins proceeded to the plug, “Respectfully, sir, I’m asking the questions here and I have no involvement in what you’re referencing there.”

She noted that she was trying to ask whether it’s “commonplace” for Trump cabinet members to use Signal before turning her attention toward the VA.

H/T: Mediaite