CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins credited White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for allowing her to cover an event last year involving President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite pushback from Saudi officials.
During an interview published Wednesday with Heather McMahan on the “Absolutely Not” podcast, Collins recalled when the White House press corps accompanied Trump on a visit to the kingdom last May. She said that when she shouted a question at the president while he was with Crown Prince Mohammed, the Saudi Royal Guard “kind of freaked out, because I had dared to ask a question and they’re not used to that there because they don’t have a free press.”
Collins, who is also CNN’s chief White House correspondent, said that Saudi officials told her that she couldn’t cover the next event, which was set to start shortly. Younger White House staffers then went to Leavitt, who Collins said diffused the situation.
“To her credit, she said, ‘No, Kaitlan’s coming in with the rest of the U.S. press.’ And we went in, and it didn’t become this huge issue,” Collins noted.
The CNN host later said the move was “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.”
