CNN Anchor Kaitlan Collins Praises White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in Rare Comment

CNN anchor praised White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a rare comment after the latter came to her defense while on a foreign trip in Saudi Arabia.

“They famously do not like the media there, to put it lightly, and I asked a shouted question to President [Donald] Trump, who had seen me when the U.S. press came in,” Collins, 33, recalled during an appearance on the "Absolutely Not" podcast on Wednesday, February 11. “He didn’t answer, which is how it works — you shout questions, they either answer or they don’t, it’s their prerogative."

Collins has a history with Trump, 79, who recently criticized her for "never smiling."

The CNN journalist, who was traveling with the White House press pool, pointed out that the country's Royal Guard wasn't used to such behaviors from reporters “because they don’t have a free press."

Collins later said officials informed her she would not be permitted to attend the next event, which was set to begin just two minutes later.

“I was like, ‘That’s not how it works, I belong to the U.S. press,’ and they were like, ‘Well, you’re not coming in,’” she continued.

Officials then turned to Leavitt, 28, who came to Collins' defense despite their rocky history.

“They went to Karoline, and to her credit, she said, ‘No, Kaitlan’s coming in with the rest of the U.S. press,’ and we went in, and so it didn’t become this big issue,” she recalled, crediting her media rival. “She, without a doubt, was like, ‘No, you’re coming in.' Which I do think is important in that moment, especially when you’re the U.S. contingent abroad, and we don’t do things like they do in Saudi Arabia.”

Despite the spark of unity, Collins and Leavitt's relationship is usually less than friendly.

In December 2025, the pair exchanged shots during a heated debate over inflation, with Leavitt accusing Collins of "pushing narratives."

"In 10 months, the president has clawed us out of this hole, he's kept it low at 2.5 percent, and we believe that number is going to continue to decline," Leavitt said of the previous inflation rate under Joe Biden's presidency.

"Nobody is saying it wasn't high under Biden," Collins clapped back. "They're just saying virtually [unchanged]."

Leavitt didn't hold back in her response, blasting the CNN anchor directly.

"My predecessor stood up at this podium and she said inflation doesn't exist. She said the border was secure," Leavitt responded. "And people like you just took her at her word, and those were two utter lies. Everything I'm telling you is the truth backed by real factual data, and you just don't want to report on it because you want to push untrue narratives about the president."