Karoline Leavitt Once Helped Out Reporter Kaitlan Collins, Who Is Often Insulted by President Trump

CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins — who is often criticized and insulted by President Donald Trump — revealed that his White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, once had her back.

During the Wednesday, February 11, episode of Heather McMahan’s Absolutely Not podcast, the 33-year-old reporter was asked how she deals with Leavitt, 28, who is known for terse responses to the media and her unwavering support of the 79-year-old president.

While Collins admitted to having occasional “clashes,” she said there “have been other moments” when Leavitt has been extremely fair.

“We were in Saudi Arabia, and we were on a foreign trip with the president, and [Trump] came in with all the other leaders, including the Saudi Crown Prince [Mohammed bin Salman],” Collins said.

“They famously do not like the media there, to put it lightly, and I asked a shouted question to President Trump, who had seen me when the U.S. press came in,” she continued, explaining that while Trump didn’t answer, things got awkward when the world leaders left the room.

“The Saudi royal guard kind of freaked out because I dared to ask a question, and they’re not used to that there because they don’t have a free press,” Collins said. “So they came up, and they said, ‘Okay, well you can’t come into the next event,’ which was like two minutes later.”

While Collins explained that she was with the U.S. press, they wouldn’t budge on their decision and were “whispering and pointing about me.”

“They went to Karoline, and to her credit, she said, ‘No Kaitlan’s coming in with the rest of the U.S. press,’” Collins said, implying that she was particularly relieved because they were abroad. “So it didn’t become this huge issue.”

Despite Leavitt’s kind actions, Trump has continued to hurl insults at the CNN journalist. When Collins recently pressed Trump on the Jeffrey Epstein files, he told her that she is the “worst reporter.”

“You are so bad,” Trump said to Collins’ face. “CNN has no ratings because of people like you.”

“You know, she’s a young woman,” Trump told the room. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face.”

When she explained that she was asking about survivors of late pedophile Epstein, Trump simply said: “You know why you’re not smiling? Because you know you’re not telling the truth. And you’re a very dishonest organization, and they should be ashamed of you.”