Nancy Cordes and Weijia Jiang lead the charge for CBS News when covering the White House.
Weijia Jiang (left) is the senior White House correspondent for CBS News, and Nancy Cordes is the network’s chief White House correspondent.
No matter the administration, covering the White House is an invitation to criticism—from your audience, other journalists, politicos of every stripe and the president. It’s a journalistic tightrope daily.
Two veterans at CBS News (@cbsnews) continuously receive high marks for conveying insights about 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Nancy Cordes (@nancycordes) is the network’s chief White House correspondent, and Weijia Jiang (@weijia) is the senior White House correspondent and vice president of the White House Correspondents’ Association (2025-26). She’s the first woman of color to be the WHCA president. Here, the duo discuss everything from covering the current administration to memorable interviews.
What’s the most challenging part of covering the White House at this particular moment, and what keeps you returning every day?
Nancy Cordes: Covering any new administration is intense, but nothing compares to the sheer number of new policies, tariffs and firings orchestrated by this White House. Keeping track of it all is a major challenge, but I’m so proud of our CBS News White House unit’s work to break stories and provide information and context for our views.
Weijia Jiang outside the White House
Weijia Jiang: My North Star—the question I ask myself daily—is what do people at home want and need to know? The list of things is never-ending, given the policy changes that this administration has implemented, not to mention the pace of the changes. It is my job to find out answers for the American public. As for what keeps me coming back—I’m addicted. I’m addicted to the beat and the pressure that comes with it.
Has there been a moment during your time covering the White House that stuck with you—something that reminded you why you do this work?
WJ: Covering the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic was unlike any assignment I have had because our reporting was helping people make life-or-death decisions. And unlike other traumatic events when journalists are typically outside observers, we were impacted alongside everyone else. The experience emphasized the huge responsibility of journalists to provide a public service.
NC: I have to pinch myself every four years when I cover an inauguration from a platform on the West Front of the Capitol. To be a couple hundred feet from the new president of the United States as he takes the Oath of Office—it’s such an honor to have a front-row seat to history.
What’s something about the job that people would be surprised to learn?
NC: So much waiting! Waiting for press conferences and speeches to start, waiting to be let into the Oval Office for a foreign leader visit, waiting on the South Lawn for the president to depart. Luckily, there are plenty of great journalists to chat with while we are waiting.
Nancy Cordes says she heavily weighs questions for the president.
WJ: People are always surprised when I say my job is fun. They are usually expecting adjectives like stressful, chaotic and exhausting. To be sure—it is all those things too. But if you’re going to spend this much time doing anything, you better enjoy it. Reporters thrive on breaking news and making tight deadlines. There is no shortage of that covering the White House, especially this one.
Oh—and I write my own scripts and stories! For some reason, people are always surprised to learn that about a TV correspondent.
What’s one interview you’ve done that changed how you see your job?
WJ: This gets back to my answer about covering the White House. The first time I asked the President of the United States a question, I realized more than ever that I am a bridge between the public and the president. I am here to ask questions that others cannot ask for themselves. I always keep that in mind, especially if I have the chance to interview him or anyone else in the administration.
NC: Whenever I have the chance to [interview] the President, I think long and hard about what I want to ask. What is it that Americans most want to know? What’s a new development that he should weigh in on? What’s a topic he has avoided in the past? It’s a huge honor to have the chance to query the leader of the free world, and I never want to squander that opportunity with questions that are unlikely to elicit any new insight or information.
What’s a favorite spot that feels like a bit of an escape from the political world?
NC: Nothing brings my heart rate down like a visit to the beautiful, peaceful Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
WJ: I acknowledge this is an unoriginal answer, but I love Rock Creek Park. I grew up in rural West Virginia and feel most grounded in nature. I take long walks there as often as possible.
Photography by: COURTESY OF CBS NEWS
