Few journalists have faced President Donald Trump’s hostility as persistently as Kaitlan Collins.
Their conflict began in 2018, when the president barred Collins from a White House event after she repeatedly questioned him about Russian President Vladimir Putin and Michael Cohen, his former attorney. The tension became even more public during a heated 2023 CNN town hall, when Trump called her a “nasty person” on live television.
Now, Trump has taken the dispute further, excluding Collins and her network, CNN, as well as Politico and MS NOW, from the White House.
In public, Collins, 34, has responded with the composed determination that has become her trademark. She is reportedly earning around $3 million a year as host of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
Privately, however, she is said to be furious. At the same time, Collins and CNN executives understand that the unprecedented ban has created an unusual opportunity to raise her profile.
“This is annoying and, of course, everyone is angry, especially Kaitlan. I don’t want to sound too cynical or opportunistic, but this is also a gift, and everyone knows it,” a CNN producer told Our News Outlet.
“The executives know it, Kaitlan knows it. This makes her more relevant and puts her name in front of people in a way that almost nothing else could.”
According to the source, CNN can now promote a compelling narrative: Collins provoked such a strong reaction from the president that the White House ultimately decided to remove her.
Kaitlin Collins, 34, joined CNN in 2017 and has reported on both of President Trump’s administrations.
CNN considers how to make the most of Collins’ newfound spotlight
“That is an advertisement in itself,” the producer said. “She is now CNN’s biggest star, at least for this week.”
CNN has publicly maintained that Collins was unfairly excluded, a position also supported by competing news organizations. Behind the scenes, however, executives are reportedly examining how to use the surge of public attention.
“She did not ask for this, but it happened,” the producer said.
“Now the question is: What do we do with it? How can we build on it? It could lead to a larger program, a stronger show and greater visibility. The executives are deciding what comes next.”
The Daily Mail has contacted CNN and Collins for comment.
Trump announced the sweeping ban on Friday, accusing CNN, MS NOW and Politico of publishing “fake news.” Reporters from all three organizations were subsequently denied entry to the White House, and their credentials were deactivated.
NEXT UP: My Best Friend Uninvited Me From Her Wedding Over a $5,000 Hens Reel
The decision also removed CNN from its scheduled role in the television press pool during Trump’s visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Monday.
The television press pool rotates among five networks—CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox News and CNN—with the assigned organization traveling alongside the president and supplying footage to other media outlets.
In a show of solidarity with CNN, the four remaining networks suspended their pooled coverage, leaving media organizations without a shared video feed of the president’s events.
The networks issued a joint statement on X: “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should reject a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
The absence of the press pool was evident Monday during Trump’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new granite helipad on the South Lawn. The White House had to rely on its own video, while no powerful microphones were available to record the president’s remarks. The resulting footage contained no usable audio.
Trump called Collins a “nasty person” years before the White House media ban.
Collins has been barred from the White House along with CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
CNN correspondent responds to Trump’s White House media restrictions
Collins joined CNN in 2017 and became the youngest chief White House correspondent in the network’s history four years later. After Trump announced the ban, she did not appear on her own 9 p.m. program.
She returned to CNN the following day to discuss the restrictions, reporting that Natalie Harp, a close Trump aide, had shown the president media clips that reportedly infuriated him and contributed to his decision to exclude the three outlets.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have since sued the administration, arguing that the ban violates the First Amendment.
“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” the organizations said in a joint statement.
“The government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.”
After the lawsuit became public, Trump responded forcefully on Truth Social.
“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America,” Trump wrote Monday morning.
“It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!”
