Under President Trump, reporters say covering the White House can be unlike anything reporters have
seen before. CNN's Caitlin Collins says the president's unusual accessibility and his
constant presence for media questions keeps reporters on their toes and sometimes sleep deprived
Most politicians are not very press savvy. It kind of depends on who it is
I think Trump always understood the value of a camera and a microphone
CNN's primetime anchor explained how Trump is more accessible to the media than most politicians, including past presidents
But when you speak to reporters who covered President Obama, he almost never responded to shouted questions
He just it wasn't his thing. He didn't you know, he would have his moments with world leaders and then you would leave the Oval
Trump kind of upended that when he came into the White House. And sometimes presidents are press averse
Trump embraced the media. While Collins first started covering presidents during Trump's first term, she says covering Trump is different
What might normally be low profile events can quickly turn into impromptu press conferences with Trump at the helm It different because Trump is such an accessible president that like if he just swearing in the ambassador to Greece like typically that wouldn be a newsworthy event if President Biden or any typical president was probably doing it because Trump will swear someone in and then he turn to you and say you know any questions and he take maybe questions for 45 minutes
She says she even has the president's phone number. During the Mar-a-Lago raid, she called him and he confirmed details directly
Collins cautions that his accessibility can be too much for some reporters
Trump doesn't sleep, and that means reporters sometimes don't either. Helix does not sleep
I had this source who said, you never want to be on Air Force One on a trip
And I said, why? You think you want to be in the axis of power or close to Trump
He doesn't sleep on these trips and, you know, you're just you're not going to sleep on that flight
Data backs up Collins points. A graph from The Sunday Times looks at press conferences Q sessions and interviews in the first 100 days of office Trump spoke to journalists more in his first 100 days than any other president in history
And according to Pew Research, Trump in front of the camera more often
has people more inclined to pay attention to the news. Four out of every 10 adults surveyed
said they're paying more attention to political news under Trump. The relationship there between Trump and the media
is a complicated one. It has been for years. He dubbed mainstream networks fake news in his first administration
even putting Collins and CNN under that same umbrella. And immediately in his second term
his White House limited the Associated Press's access to the Oval Office in February
after a Gulf of America naming dispute with the AP. The AP sued, claiming this was retaliation and a violation of press freedoms
under the First Amendment. A federal judge ruled in April in favor of the AP
but the White House appealed In July the appeals court ruled the White House doesn have to restore full access while the case continues citing the administration broad discretion over press credentials The case is still ongoing with arguments scheduled for November
While that legal battle plays out, Collins says there are moments where press access is defended
as she recalled a story from her recent trip to Saudi Arabia
And Trump walked in and he kind of waved at me, and so I shouted a question to him about how the meeting had gone
because it was this high stakes meeting. And right after that, the Saudi Royal Guard was like
you cannot come into the next event. And they were, you know, all like, they were deeply upset
that I'd asked a question and they were all kind of talking. And to Caroline Levitt's credit, she was like, no, Caitlin's coming in with the rest of the US press. And so I went into the next
event. Press access is like key in every administration I think should protect that
So while Trump may be the most accessible president to the press
press freedoms are still being fought over in court with his administration at the center