Tensions flared on Monday during a joint press conference between President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, when CNN anchor Dana Bash pushed back live on air against Trump’s latest criticism of the network. The event, held in the Oval Office, marked Bukele’s official state visit to the United States and focused heavily on the case of Kilmar Abrego García—a Maryland resident deported to El Salvador despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling ordering his return.
While Trump used the occasion to emphasize his administration’s hardline immigration policies and commend Bukele’s aggressive crackdown on gang violence—including expanded collaboration with El Salvador’s high-security prison, CECOT—he also shifted into familiar territory, launching renewed criticism of the media.Gesturing toward the press during the event, Trump remarked, “CNN over there, doesn’t want to put [the numbers] out because they don’t like putting out good numbers … because I think they hate our country. It’s a shame, really.”
The remark prompted a visibly unsettled response from CNN’s Bash, who returned to the air after the network cut away from the live press conference. “We’ve been listening to a lengthy live press conference inside the Oval Office with the leader of El Salvador, Bukele, where we have heard a lot of bits of information, a lot of news nuggets that we want to definitely focus on, a lot of some misinformation as well,” Bash began. She then addressed Trump’s dig: “I just want to say for the record, since we heard President Trump say in the Oval Office that CNN hates our country—CNN does not hate our country. That should go without saying. I’ve been here for 32 years, and I see a rhetorical device in him trying to say such a thing.”
The ongoing feud between Trump and CNN remains one of the most contentious in modern political-media history. Throughout his presidency and into his second term, Trump has repeatedly attacked the network, labeling it “fake news” and “the enemy of the people.” Tensions peaked in 2018 when CNN correspondent Jim Acosta had his White House press credentials revoked following a heated exchange with Trump. CNN responded by filing a lawsuit, and a federal judge ultimately ordered the administration to restore Acosta’s access.
