Kaitlan Collins has cemented her position as one of television's most fearless reporters. Whether it's picking out suits or questioning political leaders like Trump, Collins approaches everything with intention, strategy, and anticipation. And she always does her research. Her path to prime time started in Prattville, Alabama, a suburb of Montgomery, where she grew up with four siblings. This article explores the factors that have contributed to her rise, focusing on her preparation, work ethic, and ability to navigate complex political landscapes.
Early Career and the Trump Era
Collins's career began at The Daily Caller. By 2016, Collins was promoted to the presidential campaign beat, blogging hundreds of articles about presidential candidates-including one who made a habit of standing out. Witnessing that in real time “made me a better reporter,” Collins adds. “It was very illuminating.” When Trump was elected, the new president’s unpredictability worked to the then 24-year-old’s advantage. In January 2017, she became The Daily Caller’s White House correspondent and suddenly found herself working alongside seasoned political reporters with decades of experience. The Daily Caller didn’t actually have a designated seat in the White House Briefing Room, but Collins showed up anyway. Because she was with The Daily Caller, there was an assumption that Collins would ask softball questions, she says. “I didn’t,” she says with a laugh. “I asked really tough questions of Sean Spicer, and I think he would probably agree.” Other journalists in the room, like New York Times senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman, took note of the tough-minded reporter.
Transition to CNN
By the time Collins turned 25, CNN producers also noticed her no-nonsense interviewing style. In April 2017, she had an unplanned chat with then CNN president Jeff Zucker at the network’s annual Sunday brunch, held on the weekend of the White House Correspondents’ dinner. It helped seal the deal. Collins approached her new job with a sharpened skill set that, in retrospect, she feels was lacking during her Daily Caller days. She quickly became a member of the White House press corps, flying to Singapore for Trump’s meeting with North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, and to Helsinki for his sit-down with Russian president Vladimir Putin. She was even at the White House the night Trump got COVID. It was a make-or-break period in her career, at a time when Trump was must-see TV and the interlocutors around him were newsmakers in their own right.
Handling Adversity and Maintaining Objectivity
Collins was the sole representative of network television chosen that day to cover President Trump at a White House event. She fired off a series of questions about his relationship with his former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen, and an invitation he extended to Russian president Vladimir Putin to come to the White House. President Trump refused to address them. A little while later, Collins was called to then White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s office. Bill Shine, the White House communications director at the time, was also there. Several members of Fox News issued statements expressing solidarity with CNN. Two years and another presidential election later, CNN promoted Collins to chief White House correspondent to cover the incoming Biden administration.
The Trump Town Hall and Prime-Time Success
All roads led to this past May, when Collins sat down for a town hall with Trump, his first appearance on the network since the 2016 election. Collins walked confidently onto the stage at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, with no visible sign of nerves, while 3.4 million viewers tuned in. In July, several weeks after the fallout, CNN announced she would be anchoring her own prime-time show, The Source. Veteran network anchor Wolf Blitzer, host of The Situation Room, believes people feel comfortable opening up to Collins because “she treats everyone with respect,” he says. As if on cue, Blitzer zeroes in on the reason Collins has been able to get to where she is: “She does her research.” Barely one month after taking command of The Source, Collins landed a bombshell interview with former attorney general William Barr. And just two weeks before Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel, she sat down with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Even though Collins helms an anchor desk, she still travels around the country and the world covering today’s most pressing events.
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Reflections on Journalism and Responsibility
Through it all, both the breaking news stories and her summit meetings with power brokers, Collins has refined her reporting style over the past decade-something the cameras have caught happening in real time. She has spent years perfecting the art of preparation, but Collins has also learned the value of adjusting her process once in a while. As someone who’s been watching her for ages, interviewing the interviewer is, well, intimidating. But Collins laughs it off. CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins admitted Donald Trump has "embraced" the media in ways other presidents have not during an interview Monday.
Navigating the White House Press Landscape
Collins appeared on Jason Tartick’s podcast "Trading Secrets," where she discussed her experience covering the White House. 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." 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. As she stood in the back and watched Josh Earnest call on reporters and answer their questions over the course of an hour, she found herself fantasizing of the days when she would be among them, raising her hand from the first row. In January 2017, Collins’s dreams became reality when The Daily Caller named her White House correspondent following her coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign for the site. “I think the people who explained the craziness best to me were not other correspondents or reporters but were photojournalists, who had covered multiple presidencies,” Collins recalls.
The Importance of Truthful Reporting
While her journalistic savvy and allegiance to truthful and transparent storytelling have been obvious throughout her time at CNN, it was Collins’s reporting over the last year that really secured her fate as a star on the network and prompted her promotion to Chief White House Correspondent. Collins is ready to move past the personal attacks on the media and the disputes of reality that have marked the last four years, but she vows that even as the White House changes, CNN’s coverage of it will not.
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