CNN/PBS anchor and self-styled journalist Christiane Amanpour recently gave a wild, anti-Trump commencement speech at Harvard where she invoked everything from 1984 to Benito Mussolini, but that may not have been the wildest part of her recent trip to America. On her Tuesday podcast installment of The Ex Files—so named because she co-hosts it with her ex-husband, Jamie Rubin—Amanpour declared she prepared for the visit by getting a burner phone because Trump’s America forced her to treat her trip “as if I was going to North Korea.”
Amanpour recalled her horror story, “I have to tell you when I went to Harvard to give this speech, and it was just a few days ago, last week. I must say I was afraid. I’m a foreigner, I don’t have a green card, I’m not an American citizen, I’m fairly prominent, and I literally prepared to go to America as if I was going to North Korea. I took a burner phone, Jamie. Imagine that. I didn’t take a single—not my mobile phone, not my iPad, nothing, and I had nothing on the burner phone except a few numbers, and I could text with my sister, I had your number, I had our son’s number, I had our lawyer’s number, you know, the CNN lawyer, and I was really afraid.”
Speaking of North Korea, Rubin used to work for former Clinton-era Secretary of State Madeline Albright, who Amanpour once interviewed on the topic without disclosing the familial conflict of interest.
Back in present day, Amanpour also claimed that, “I even talked to the CNN security person because of this—I’ve heard that many, including British citizens, have been stopped at the border and questioned for hours and hours and hours, and I know that a lot of them, from anecdotal discussions with my friends have been turned around, even parents who are coming to various universities for their kids’ graduations, whether they’re from any part of the world, so it was scary.”
Ultimately, Amanpour faced no problems, “Luckily, Jamie, I was welcomed. I mean, the immigration officer at Boston, where I came in, could not have been nicer. Obviously, none of this was discussed, thanked me for what I do, brining the stories to the world, you know, to America, and to viewers, listeners, et cetera. So, huge sigh of relief I breathed, but wow, can you imagine if I’m afraid, what do others think?”
It is impossible to come to any intelligent conclusion about these anonymous friends’ stories because Amanpour gave no details about who they are or why they may have been turned away. However, the fact that Amanpour did not have any problems at the airport would suggest her fears of Trump turning America into North Korea or a place where one needs a burner phone to talk to their kid were overblown, not that she would ever admit that.
Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files with Jamie Rubin
6/3/2025
7 Minutes, 43 Seconds
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: I have to tell you when I went to Harvard to give this speech, and it was just a few days ago, last week. I must say I was afraid. I’m a foreigner, I don’t have a green card, I’m not an American citizen, I’m fairly prominent, and I literally prepared to go to America as if I was going to North Korea. I took a burner phone, Jamie. Imagine that. I didn’t take a single—not my mobile phone, not my iPad, nothing, and I had nothing on the burner phone except a few numbers, and I could text with my sister, I had your number, I had our son’s number, I had our lawyer’s number, you know, the CNN lawyer, and I was really afraid. I even talked to the CNN security person because of this—I’ve heard that many, including British citizens, have been stopped at the border and questioned for hours and hours and hours, and I know that a lot of them, from anecdotal discussions with my friends have been turned around, even parents who are coming to various universities for their kids’ graduations whether, they’re from any part of the world, so it was scary. Luckily, Jamie, I was welcomed. I mean, the immigration officer at Boston, where I came in, could not have been nicer. Obviously, none of this was discussed, thanked me for what I do, brining the stories to the world, you know, to America, and to viewers, listeners, et cetera. So, huge sigh of relief I breathed, but wow, can you imagine if I’m afraid, what do others think?