Despite ‘fake news’ claims, Trump gives media wide access: CNN’s Collins

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00:00Under President Trump, reporters say covering the White House can be unlike anything reporters have

00:05seen before. CNN's Caitlin Collins says the president's unusual accessibility and his

00:12constant presence for media questions keeps reporters on their toes and sometimes sleep

00:19deprived. Most politicians are not very press savvy. It kind of depends on who it is. I think

00:27Trump always understood the value of a camera and a microphone. CNN's primetime anchor explained

00:32how Trump is more accessible to the media than most politicians, including past presidents.

00:40But when you speak to reporters who covered President Obama, he almost never responded to

00:43shouted questions. He just, it wasn't his thing. He didn't, you know, he would have his moments with

00:48world leaders and then you would leave the Oval. Trump kind of upended that when he came into the

00:53White House. And sometimes presidents are press averse. Trump embraced the media.

00:57While Collins first started covering presidents during Trump's first term,

01:02she says covering Trump is different. What might normally be low profile events can quickly turn

01:08into impromptu press conferences with Trump at the helm. It's different because Trump is such an

01:15accessible president that like if he's just swearing in the ambassador to Greece, like typically that

01:21wouldn't be a newsworthy event if President Biden or any typical president was probably doing it because

01:25Trump will swear someone in and then he'll turn to you and say, you know, any questions and he'll

01:30take maybe questions for 45 minutes. She says she even has the president's phone number. During the

01:36Mar-a-Lago raid, she called him and he confirmed details directly. Collins cautions that his accessibility

01:43can be too much for some reporters. Trump doesn't sleep and that means reporters sometimes don't

01:50either. He like does not sleep. I had this source who said you never want to be on Air Force One on a

01:57trip. And I said, why? Like you'd think you want to be in the axis of power close to Trump. He doesn't

02:03sleep on these trips and you know, you're just, you're not going to sleep on that flight. Data backs up

02:08Collins points. A graph from the Sunday times looks at press conferences, Q and a sessions and

02:14interviews in the first 100 days of office. Trump spoke to journalists more in his first 100 days

02:21than any other president in history. And according to Pew research, Trump in front of the camera more

02:28often has people more inclined to pay attention to the news. Four out of every 10 adults surveyed said

02:35they're paying more attention to political news under Trump. The relationship there between Trump and

02:42the media is a complicated one. It has been for years. He dubbed mainstream networks fake news in

02:48his first administration, even putting Collins and CNN under that same umbrella. And immediately in his

02:56second term, his White House limited the Associated Press's access to the Oval Office in February after a

03:04Gulf of America naming dispute with the AP. The AP sued, claiming this was retaliation and a violation

03:11of press freedoms under the First Amendment. A federal judge ruled in April in favor of the AP,

03:18but the White House appealed. In July, the appeals court ruled the White House doesn't have to restore

03:24full access while the case continues, citing the administration's broad discretion over press

03:31credentials. The case is still ongoing with arguments scheduled for November. While that legal battle

03:38plays out, Collins says there are moments where press access is defended, as she recalled a story

03:45from her recent trip to Saudi Arabia. And Trump walked in and he kind of waved at me. And so I shouted

03:50a question to him about how the meeting had gone because it was this high stakes meeting. And right after that,

03:55the Saudi Royal Guard was like, you cannot come into the next event. And they were, you know, all like they were

04:02deeply upset that I had asked a question and they were all kind of talking. And to Caroline Levitt's credit, she was like,

04:07no, Caitlin's coming in with the rest of the U.S. press. And so I went into the next event. Press access is like key in

04:13every administration, I think, should should protect that. So while Trump may be the most accessible president to the press,

04:19press freedoms are still being fought over in court with his administration at the center.

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