Dylan Mulvaney says President Donald Trump’s decision to invoke her name while attacking CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner reminded her of her own influence.
Trump compared Collins to Mulvaney during his July 24 speech after dismissing the journalist’s award and repeatedly telling her to smile. He then revived the controversy surrounding Mulvaney’s 2023 partnership with Bud Light.
Mulvaney responded in a nearly four-minute Instagram video, congratulating Collins and joking that she remains “permanently burned into” the minds of Trump and his supporters more than three years after the beer promotion.
Trump continued the comparison two days after the dinner by sharing an edited image that placed Collins’ face on Mulvaney’s body in a photograph surrounded by Bud Light cans.
Mulvaney Called the Public Criticism ‘The Greatest Compliment’
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Mulvaney addressed the remarks in an Instagram video posted July 26. She began by congratulating Collins and said she was “incredibly honored” to be compared to the journalist. “It seems to me that I might be like the one that got away for these men,” Mulvaney said, according to People. “I am permanently burned into their retinas. I am microchipped into their minds.”
Mulvaney said she initially worried when she learned that Trump had placed her on what she jokingly called his “diss track.” She compared the reaction to recently being ghosted by someone she liked and realizing she should not pursue approval from people who do not support her.
“Maybe being publicly mocked and criticized by this administration is actually the greatest compliment of all,” she said. “Because it puts me in the company of some of the most brilliant, empathetic people in our world today.”
Trump Compared Collins to Mulvaney After Her Journalism Award
Collins received the broadcast prize for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure, according to the White House Correspondents’ Association. Her winning work included coverage of Trump’s February 2025 Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump congratulated Collins during his speech before calling the award “fake” and saying she should not have received it. He then commented on her appearance and repeatedly instructed her to smile. “I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship,” Trump said in the published transcript.
“But then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can. It was Dylan Mulvaney.” Trump claimed Mulvaney had cost Bud Light $35 billion in market capitalization and called the partnership “the worst commercial ever made.” The 2023 collaboration involved a personalized can sent to Mulvaney and a social-media promotion.
Trump Later Shared an Edited Image of Collins
On July 26, Trump shared an altered image through Truth Social showing Collins’ face placed over Mulvaney’s body in a photograph from the Bud Light promotion. The person in the image held a beer while sitting at a table surrounded by additional cans.
Trump did not include a caption explaining the image. The Independent reported that the original photograph came from Mulvaney’s 2023 video promoting the brand’s March Madness contest.
Mulvaney noted in her response that she had recently maintained a lower public profile while concentrating on acting, singing and theater work. She expressed surprise that Trump was still discussing the beer partnership years later.
Collins Used Her Award Post to Defend Press Freedom
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Before posting her video, Mulvaney shared an Eleanor Roosevelt quote from Collins’ Instagram recap: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” She added three white heart emojis.
Collins wrote that receiving the award from CNN colleague Wolf Blitzer was the “second-best part” of the dinner. “The first was reminding everyone why the First Amendment and asking uncomfortable questions that people in power don’t like matters,” she said.
Mulvaney closed her response by encouraging viewers to support transgender and nonbinary people, performers and businesses. “To the president, thank you for reminding me that I am more powerful than I even knew,” she said, before quoting singer Shea Diamond: “I am America.”