CNN promotes Kaitlan Collins back to White House chief, ‘The Source’ will continue

CNN has announced that it will move Kaitlan Collins into what it calls an “unprecedented” new role.

Collins, who has been with the network since 2017, will return to her role as chief White House correspondent while also anchoring her daily 9 p.m. show “The Source.”

“Kaitlan Collins is the perfect person to lead coverage of the new Trump White House, even as she continues to anchor her key primetime show The Source,” said CNN Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson in a statement. “Kaitlan is a political journalist of real depth and tenacity who already boasts an amazing record of scoops and exclusive interviews. I’m excited to see what new heights she scales as she combines this key new posting with her duties as a major CNN anchor.”

It is common for networks to shuffle White House correspondents when a new president takes over.

Collin previously covered the White House early in President Joe Biden’s term from 2021 to 2023. 

In 2023, she was tapped to be co-anchor of the network’s new morning show “CNN This Morning” alongside Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow. 

Her stint on the morning shift was short-lived, with CNN moving her to the key 9 p.m. timeslot later in the year to host “The Source.”

Prior to CNN, Collins worked as both an intern and entertainment reporter for the right-leaning website The Daily Caller. She later covered the Trump administration for the site.

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At CNN, Collins has had notable run-ins with Trump and his team, including an incident where he pointedly ignored her questioning about his alleged ties to Vladmir Putin and the cloud of controversy connected his attorney Michael Cohen during a photo op. That incident led to her being blocked from attending a press event later the same day, though the Trump team objected to the classification of her being “banned” from the event but declined to specific how it would characterize the action. 

In 2023, after Trump had left office, Collins moderated a CNN town hall event with Trump where he refused to answer questions about his compliance with a subpoena during investigations into improper handling of classified documents. He retorted by calling her a “nasty person” on air.