Kaitlan Collins' Cozy Lunch With Todd Blanche Is Raising Eyebrows
When Pam Bondi was fired as attorney general, joining the has-been MAGA club, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was named as her replacement. His appointment caused a stir online, as photos were previously shared of Blanche sitting down for an intimate-looking lunch with CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins. The same Collins who famously can't stop butting heads with Donald Trump , as the president has been vocal about his disapproval of the reporter's tactics in questioning him.
The photos of Blanche and Collins were taken long before Bondi's firing, and were posted to X in December 2024. One snap shows the CNN journalist with her hands under her chin as she stares across the table, looking enthralled by whatever Trump's then-personal attorney had to say. The two seemed comfortable with one another; the other pic of the lunch captures Collins with her sunglasses on as she looks across at Blanche. When they originally surfaced, the pictures caused a major stir in the pro-Trump community. Even Elon Musk replied at the time with a thinking emoji tweet.
Once Blanche was named as AG, the photos were re-shared on X, where many folks in MAGA land expressed concern over his relationship with Collins. "Does Anyone feel comfortable having Todd Blanche being AG after he had lunch with CNN Kaitlan Collins?" one user tweeted. "Don't expect Todd Blanche who was seeing having a cozy lunch with CNN's Kaitlan Collins to do anything. DeepState plant," another Trumpster wrote. "Todd Blanche just continues Trump's long string of disastrous AG picks," a user opined. Seeing Blanche selected as attorney general may have come as a surprise to those who followed the backlash when the photos originally went viral.
Todd Blanche had been on CNN with Kaitlan Collins before
After the pics of the cozy business lunch between Todd Blanche and Kaitlan Collins were posted online in December 2024, there was plenty of speculation that Donald Trump wouldn't take kindly to the meeting. In fact, chatter arose that Blanche could have been trying to play both sides of the political fence. "Trump hates anyone in his inner circle being a leak. It's quite obvious from these pictures that Kaitlin and Todd aren't talking about the plans for Christmas," an insider told OK! at the time, via Radar. "[Blanche's] been caught red-handed being a source to one of CNN's biggest stars ... Next time Kaitlin gets a scoop on the inner workings of the president-elect's transition, you'd have to finger Todd as the likely culprit," they added.
In Blanche's defense, he had been open about a working business relationship with Collins. Blanche first gained notoriety working for Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush money trial. Following the verdict, Collins interviewed the lawyer on CNN in May 2024 about certain decisions he made during the trial, including not having Trump testify.
That appearance on CNN may have been okayed by Trump, but the cozy lunch with Collins likely rubbed POTUS the wrong way. His strong distaste of the CNN reporter has been well-documented, and Trump even called Collins "stupid and nasty" in an incendiary rant posted to Truth Social in December. The post was spurred on by seemingly innocuous questions from Collins. "Caitlin Collin's of Fake News CNN, always Stupid and Nasty, asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago," the president wrote. Perhaps Trump will outline a new set of boundaries for Blanche's future interactions with Collins.