Veterans Affairs Doug Collins is accusing a reporter of using "rumors" in stories that he says are scaring agency employees and veterans. 

“I want you to know something,” Collins said Tuesday to Military.com reporter Patricia Kime, according to a clip of the exchange posted online by Collins. “I want to work with you a lot as we go forward, we’re going to have a lot of time together. But I’m not going to have any reporter scare my employees and scaring the veterans – and that’s what this is doing.”

Collins claimed that Kime is scaring his employees by using such phrases as "there's a rumor going around” and "rumors began circulating" in her articles.

He said that it scared his veterans and his employees because the rumors written about were not true.

"Please help our Veterans by NOT spreading unconfirmed rumors, hearsay and innuendo about @DeptVe Affairs. Thank you!" Collins wrote on the social media platform, X.

Collins in the exchange referenced something Kime had written about the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency but it's unclear exactly what. The department reportedly plans to cut roughly 80,000 for the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Military.com's managing editor, Zach Fryer-Biggs, said Collins misrepresented Kime's story.

"Mr. Secretary – You willfully misrepresented what was in that story, one where your own press office confirmed the details, and was quoted," Fryer-Biggs wrote on X. "Patricia is not going to be distracted by this nonsense, she’s going to continue doing the important reporting she’s done for years."