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Kaitlan Collins, born on April 7, 1992, is a prominent American journalist currently serving as a news anchor for CNN. Previously a co-anchor for CNN This Morning, she has been hosting The Source at 9 p.m. since July 10, 2023. Collins held the position of the network’s chief White House correspondent from January 2021 to November 2022. Her career with CNN follows her earlier role as the White House correspondent for The Daily Caller, during which she resumed her duties as CNN’s chief White House correspondent in President Trump’s second term.
kaitlan collins biography
Collins was born and raised in Prattville, Alabama. She grew up with her father, Jeff Collins Sr., a mortgage banker, and her brothers, Brayden and Cole Collins. While her mother’s name remains private, Collins has shared the story of her mother’s battle with cancer, using her platform to bring attention to breast cancer awareness. She also has a sister named Lena Grace Collins.
After completing her education at Prattville High School in 2011, Collins pursued higher education at the University of Alabama. There, she majored in political science and media, graduating with honors in May 2014. During her time at the university, she was an active member of the Alpha Phi sorority, leaving a significant impact on her campus community.
Collins moved to Washington, D.C., after graduation to start her career as an intern for The Daily Caller. By June 2014, she was hired as an entertainment correspondent. Her coverage of the 2016 presidential election led to her appointment as the White House reporter in January 2017, where she began reporting extensively on the Trump administration.
Career
Kaitlan travelled to Washington, D.C., after graduating from college to work as an intern for The Daily Caller website. In June 2014, The Daily Caller hired her as an entertainment correspondent. After covering the 2016 presidential election, The Daily Caller appointed her as White House reporter in January 2017, and she began reporting on the Trump administration.
Collins was requested to speak on CNN multiple times while still working for The Daily Caller. At a White House correspondent event in spring 2017, she met network president Jeff Zucker and praised him for bringing her on, despite her employer’s ideological leanings.
CNN hired Collins in July 2017 to cover presidential news. As a member of the press corps, Collins covered at least six of Trump’s worldwide presidential travels. Collins was embroiled in an altercation with the Trump administration on July 25, 2018, when she attended a photo opportunity in the Oval Office as the day’s pool reporter.
As the event came to a close, Collins questioned Trump about Vladimir Putin and his former attorney, Michael Cohen. Trump disregarded her enquiries. Collins was then prevented from attending a Trump administration news conference in the White House Rose Garden that afternoon, with top White House officials telling him that such questions were “inappropriate for that venue”.
Sarah Sanders, Trump’s press secretary, said Collins “shouted questions and refused to leave,” while Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s adviser, said the move was about “being polite.” Bill Shine, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for communications, objected to the characterisation of the White House’s action as a “ban” but “declined to tell reporters what word he would use to characterise the White House’s decision to block her from attending the event”.
According to CNN, Collins’ ban was “retaliatory” and “not indicative of an open and free press”. The White House Correspondents Association criticised the prohibition as “wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak.” Fox News’ president, Jay Wallace, made a statement in support of Collins, saying that his organisation stood in strong solidarity with CNN for the right to full access for its journalists as part of a free and unfettered press.
Collins was the CNN White House correspondent for much of the written and aired live coverage of the 2020 election, and he was later upgraded to lead White House correspondent for the upcoming Biden administration on January 11, 2021. At a conference a few weeks after the election, Trump’s Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany refused to take Collins’ question and referred to her as an “activist”. At the age of 28, she was CNN’s youngest chief White House reporter and one of the youngest chief correspondents for any major media network.
On September 15, 2022, CNN announced that Collins would co-anchor a redesigned CNN morning show with Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow, marking the end of her term as chief White House correspondent. Collins was voted President of the White House Correspondents Association for the 2024-2025 term before taking the morning show job, which she gave up when she relocated to New York. CNN announced on October 12, 2022, that the morning show’s name would be CNN This Morning.
Collins mediated a town hall-style meeting with Donald Trump on May 10, 2023. The programme featured questions from Republican primary voters in New Hampshire. During the event, Collins pointed out that Joe Biden, whose residence was also searched when sensitive documents were discovered at the Penn Biden Centre, did not defy a subpoena. Trump then asked Collins if she would let him answer the question. Collins responded, “Yes, that’s why I asked,” causing Trump to label her a “nasty person”.
Collins was named CNN’s new 9 p.m. ET host on May 17, 2023, filling a vacancy left by Chris Cuomo’s firing in December 2021, with her show set to debut in June. She left CNN This Morning on May 25, 2023, and her seat was taken by a rotation of CNN anchors.
On November 26, 2024, CNN announced that Collins would return as the network’s lead White House correspondent for Trump’s second term while maintaining her primetime position. On July 5, 2023, it was announced that Collins’ new 9 p.m. programme will be called The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
The show premiered on July 10. She has hosted this prime-time hourly show on weekdays, sandwiched between Anderson Cooper 360° and CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip.
Awards
Collins appeared on Forbes’ “30 Under 30: Media” list in 2019. In late 2024, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics named Collins one of America’s ten top TV news journalists. The organisation, which gives out the Dorian Awards for mainstream and LGBTQ-themed material, lauded Collins for “fact-checking leaders when they spewed misinformation” and for “calmly holding the powerful accountable” on her CNN show The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
Kaitlan Collins Husband
Kaitlan Collins is engaged to Will Douglas, a chemist and businessman. Their relationship began in 2015. Will Douglas is a lawyer with the famous firm Covington & Burling. Their bond has been seen at public events and on social media, where they exchange photos of one another. However, there is no evidence or confirmation that Collins and Douglas have children together.
Kaitlan Collins Net Worth
Kaitlan Collins, a well-known American journalist, has an astounding net worth of almost $500,000. She is currently the acclaimed White House correspondent for CNN.
Social Media
X: @kaitlancollins