Well, here's something I didn't expect to write about today, but here we are...
One of the most exhausting anti-Donald Trump narratives in the MSM — and there are many, so it's hard to choose — is that Donald Trump is undermining the First Amendment, doesn't want a free press, is rude to reporters from certain news outlets, etc.
There are so many headlines to choose from as examples, but I'll go with this November 2025 piece from Reporters Without Borders called "8 ways Trump is shrinking the space for press freedom – literally." It begins:
Since January 2025, the Trump administration has waged its war against the media through costly lawsuits, shutdowns of government-funded outlets, and by verbally harassing journalists. Another way to alienate the press is by limiting their physical presence in key government spaces, courthouses, and other important locations. The restrictions are sometimes directed at a particular media outlet. Other times, they ban all members of the press. On top of going against bipartisan precedent for presidential administrations, this strategy means journalists are unable to ask important questions, break important stories and keep the public informed.
Shutting down state-funded outlets? I call that saving taxpayer dollars and preventing us from becoming the next Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, or North Korea. I have no interest in state media, and any reporter worth their weight shouldn't either.
Limiting the press' presence in certain government spaces? I have no issue with that either. Everything is not meant for public consumption. It's logistics, not censorship.
Restricting particular media outlets? I think we all know that certain outlets have earned restricted access by repeatedly reporting fake news. Their own viewers are turning on them because of it. We just learned that CNN has lost two-thirds of its primetime viewers in the last decade. I think our own Stephen Green will have more on that later.
And as for journalists not being able to break important stories... go ahead and tell me what stories CNN and similar outlets have missed. Please, I've broken stories from my own bedroom without the help of any government officials or MSM reporters with access to government officials.
But you don't have to take my word for it. Trump has actually done more for a free press than any president before him, and the proof is there in the open to see with your own eyes. How many days a week does he speak to the press, willing to answer unscripted or non-preapproved questions? He's done that more in the last year than Joe Biden did in four. His cabinet meetings, executive order signings, and even his flights to and from Washington are often spent talking to reporters of all stripes for extended periods of time. He's the most accessible president we've had in our lifetimes.
Yes, he has the legacy media there, but he's also made a point to include new media outlets and independent journalists. If anything, he's widening the field, giving us more voices, more access, and more diversity in our media.
And speaking of legacy media, CNN's Kaitlan Collins of all people just made that point that the Trump administration will and does protect the freedom of the press, even in the sketchiest of situations.
Collins appeared on Heather McMahan's Absolutely Not podcast this week, and she told a story from May of last year when Trump was in the Middle East. Specifically, he was in Saudi Arabia, and after a meeting with officials there, including the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, Trump saw Collins in the press pool, waved at her, and she yelled out and asked how the meeting went.
"They famously do not like the media there to put it lightly," Collins said.
Trump didn't answer, and all the leaders left the room, but she explained that the "Saudi Royal Guard kind of freaked out because I dared to ask a question."
"They're not used to that there because they don't have a free press," she added. "And so, they came up, and they said, 'Well you can't come into the next event.'"
She said she told them that's not how this works, she's part of the United States press, and they continued to deny her and were whispering and pointing at her. Some of the younger White House staffers weren't sure what to do, so they went to ask Karoline Leavitt for help.
"To her credit, she said, 'No, Kaitlan's coming in with the rest of the U.S. press,' and we went in," Collins said. "And so it didn't become this huge issue because obviously, if I had not been allowed in — you know, this is something that happened with the North Koreans when the president visited the DMZ and Sarah Huckabee Sanders was the press secretary — and so, to her credit, she, without a doubt, was like, 'no, you're coming in.'"
"I do think it's important in that moment, especially when you're part of the U.S. contingent abroad, and we don't do things like they do in Saudi Arabia," she concluded.
The White House spokesperson went out of her way to stand up to an authoritarian regime on even CNN's behalf. Unless I'm missing something, this doesn't exactly seem like a "war on the press." Quit the opposite. Sounds to me like Reporters Without Borders needs to go report on Saudi Arabia and stop with the anti-Trump nonsense.
Here's the video if you want to watch for yourself. Collins says it somewhat begrudgingly because she knows it doesn't fit the narrative, but at least she admitted it. Progress?
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Says Karoline Leavitt Defended Her Free Press Rights
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) February 12, 2026
“The Saudi Royal Guard freaked out because I dared to ask a question … and said, you can't come into the next event … Karoline, to her credit said, no Kaitlan's coming in with the rest of the U.S.… pic.twitter.com/uhB9al4GVX
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