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CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins admitted Donald Trump has “embraced” the media in ways other presidents have not during an interview Monday.
Collins appeared on Jason Tartick’s podcast “Trading Secrets,” where she discussed her experience covering the White House. Though she has only covered two presidents in her role as White House correspondent, Collins remarked that even veteran reporters have said Trump changed the media dynamic.
“When you speak to reporters who covered President Obama, he almost never responded to shouted questions,” Collins said. “It wasn’t his thing. He would have his moments with world leaders, and then you would leave the Oval. Trump kind of upended that when he came into the White House. Sometimes presidents are press-averse. Trump embraced the media.”
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President Donald Trump confronted CNN’s Kaitlan Collins multiple times during her time as White House correspondent. (Fox News)
She continued, “He did it for decades as like this New York mogul, and so he just had a different approach to the press and always has long before taking office. Most politicians are not very press-savvy. It kind of depends on who it is.”
Collins said that she’s kept up a “running list” of potential questions for every White House event because Trump has been known to turn almost any situation into a “press conference.”
“Trump will swear someone in, and then he’ll turn to you and say, ‘Any questions?’ And he’ll take questions for 45 minutes,” Collins said.
She added that she has also personally called Trump in the past for a comment, showing how accessible the president is to the media.
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CNN’s Kaitlan Collins remarked that President Donald Trump is more accessible than other presidents. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images; Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
“I would just call him directly,” Collins said. “I didn’t make a habit out of it, but if there was something huge happening like the day of the Mar-a-Lago raid when the FBI showed up and executed a search warrant over the classified documents. We had heard it was happening. Our people on the ground in Florida were trying to get in touch with law enforcement sources. And it was kind of one of those moments where I was like, ‘We will be best served if I just call him directly and ask if this is true.’ And it was true. And he sent me the statement immediately confirming it.”
Collins and Trump have frequently clashed during press conferences, with Trump calling Collins a “low-rated anchor” and remarking “nobody watches CNN anymore.”
Despite his rhetoric, however, Collins gave credit to Trump and his team for taking her questions and recalled a moment when White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended her during the president’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May.
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Kaitlan Collins remembered an instance when a top Trump aide defended her while in Saudi Arabia. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Collins recalled shouting out a question in Saudi Arabia to Trump while he was with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and she was then admonished by the royal guard that she couldn’t come to the next event.
“They were deeply upset that I had asked a question,” she said. “To Karoline Leavitt’s credit, she was like, ‘No, Kaitlan’s coming in with the rest of the U.S. press.’ And so, I went into the next event. But I think things like that, you can disagree about questions and briefings and whatnot. Press access is key and every administration, I think, should protect that.”
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