CNN’s Kaitlan Collins may often find herself at odds with President Donald Trump, but during a recent interview, she conceded that it was White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who stepped in to defend her rights as a journalist.

Collins explained the situation to “Absolutely Not” podcast host Heather McMahan, which unfolded when Collins traveled with the president to Saudi Arabia. She explained that the Saudi Royal Guard attempted to bar her from attending an event with Trump, and Leavitt lobbied for her to be allowed in the room.

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CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Says Karoline Leavitt Defended Her Free Press Rights

“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

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) February 12, 2026

“When we were in Saudi Arabia, we were on a foreign trip with the president, and [Trump] came in with all the other leaders, including the Saudi Crown Prince,” Collins said, setting the scene for McMahan. “They famously do not like the media there, to put it lightly.”

“[I] shouted a question to President Trump, who had seen me when the U.S. press came in,” she continued. “He didn’t answer, which is, I mean, that’s how it works: you shout questions, they either answer or they don’t, it’s their prerogative. And then the world leaders left the room.”

That, Collins said, was when things started to get sticky for her. The Saudi Royal Guard, unaccustomed to reporters being allowed to shout questions at their leaders, attempted to bar her from entering the room ahead of the next event.

“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,” she explained. “And so they came up, and they said, ‘Okay, well, you can’t come into the next event,’ which was like two minutes later.”

Collins said she attempted to explain “that’s not how this works,” but gained little ground with the Royal Guard.

“I could see them whispering and pointing about me,” she added. “Some of the younger White House press weren’t really sure what to do, and they went to Karoline. And, to her credit, she said, ‘No, Kaitlan’s coming in with the rest of the U.S. press’ … which I do think is important, in that moment.”

Collins noted that similar incidents had happened on foreign trips before, such as when President Trump visited the DMZ and met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

The end is near for the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota.

After more than 4,000 arrests, many of the thousands of ICE and Border Patrol personnel sent to the Twin Cities from other areas of the country will soon return to their home offices, White House border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday.

Homan came to the decision with the support of President Donald Trump after seeing “success” with the operation, which has led to a significant drop in criminal illegal immigrants roaming the streets, “unprecedented levels of coordination” from local officials, and a decrease in anti-ICE agitator activity, he said. It also resulted in federal authorities tracking down 3,364 missing migrant kids who previously crossed the border alone.

“I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that the surge operation conclude,” Homan said during a press conference in Minneapolis.

But it doesn’t mean the Trump administration is backing down from its goal of carrying out a historic mass deportation campaign, he said. It also doesn’t mean ICE is leaving for good.

“A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue through the next week,” Homan said. “We have a lot of work to do across this country to remove public safety risks who shouldn’t even be in this country and to deliver on President Trump’s promise for strong border security and mass deportation. Law enforcement officers drawn down from this operation will either return to the duty station or be assigned elsewhere to achieve just that.”

BREAKING: HOMAN announces that he and Trump have agreed to end ICE’s ‘Operation Metro Surge’ In Minnesota

ICE will still have a “footprint” in the Twin Cities that will include teams to prioritize arresting criminal illegal immigrants and violent agitators pic.twitter.com/DOzHmoXbJk

— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) February 12, 2026

“For those who say we are backing down from immigration enforcement or mass deportations, you are simply wrong, look at the data,” he said.

While the drawdown continues, “a small footprint of personnel will remain” temporarily “to close out and transition full command and control back to the” local ICE office. That includes teams deployed to quell street violence and agents investigating fraud.

Homan also said he’s directed the “strategic” placement of officers near local jails in Minnesota to ensure they’re able to swiftly receive illegal immigrants that local authorities must release.

“Federal government personnel assigned to conduct criminal investigations into the agitators, as well as the personnel assigned for the fraud investigations, will remain in place until the work is done. I will also remain on the ground for a little longer to oversee the drawdown of this operation and ensure its success,” Homan said.

Trump sent Homan to Minneapolis last month to assume control over the operation, replacing Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino. Bovino was known for his showy operations, where he waltzed around the Twin Cities flanked by burly federal agents and conducted aggressive roving patrols.

Homan came in and changed all of that, instructing federal agents to prioritize hardened criminals before nabbing anyone whose sole crime is being in the country illegally. The former ICE chief, however, made clear from the start that it didn’t mean that illegal immigrants without rap sheets were off the table.

Homan passionately emphasized that point during Thursday’s presser.

“I hear all the hate about you should arrest everybody. We are, but we’re prioritizing those who are the biggest threat to our community, the rapist, the murderers, the child molesters. That’s the right thing to do, but I’ll say it again. Present Trump made a promise of mass deportation, and that’s what this country’s gonna get,” Homan said.

“If you’re in this country illegally, you’re not off the table,” he said.