CNN
It was announced December 20, 2012, that Tapper would join CNN and would anchor a new weekday program and serve as the network's chief Washington correspondent. He began with CNN in January 2013, hosting his own program, The Lead with Jake Tapper.
The Lead with Jake Tapper won three National Headliner Awards for its reporting in 2013. Among broadcast television networks, cable networks and syndicators, The Lead with Jake Tapper won first prize for its coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing and second prize for its coverage of the Oklahoma tornadoes in the category of "Coverage of a Major News Event." It won third prize for its coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing in the category of "Continuing Coverage of a Major News Event." In 2014, The Lead was honored for a series of reports on academic fraud at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by correspondent Sara Ganim with a Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award for Investigative Reporting.
The Lead was nominated for numerous News & Documentary Emmy Awards, including for Outstanding Live News Broadcast. A report for The Lead by correspondent Isa Sores, called "Madua's Blood Gold", was awarded an Emmy in 2020; a story by Anna Coren on a "9-Year-Old Afghan Sold into Marriage" was awarded an Emmy in 2022.
In January 2015, Tapper's reporting on a new Pentagon policy resulted in the U.S. military changing a rule that was adversely impacting caregivers — "non-medical attendants" or NMAs — for wounded servicemembers. The Pentagon had started to limit reimbursements for NMAs as they worked with servicemembers who had been severely wounded, often with missing limbs or debilitating brain injuries. Upon Tapper's inquiry, the Pentagon reinstated the previous policy.
On the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024, Tapper reported on Gold Star families protesting a 2014 change in policy by the American Battle Monuments Commission that had previously allowed families to pay for flowers, which the ABMC would ensure be placed on the graves of their loved ones in cemeteries abroad, such as Normandy. After the piece aired, crediting Tapper, the White House pushed the ABMC to change the policy back.
In June 2015, Tapper became host of CNN's Sunday political show, State of the Union with Jake Tapper. There, he has become known for challenging politicians of all stripes, including challenging Senator Bernie Sanders to release his tax returns; asking Jeb Bush why Hillary Clinton is responsible for Benghazi if his brother George W. Bush bears no responsibility for the terrorist attacks on 9/11; asking Hillary Clinton about the FBI investigation into her private email server; and asking Donald Trump if he would denounce support from white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, and David Duke—referred to days later as "the infamous Tapper-Trump exchange" by Mitt Romney in his March 2016 speech condemning Trump.
On September 16, 2015, Tapper moderated two Republican primary debates from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The main debate drew an average of 23.1 million viewers, making it the most watched program in the history of CNN and the second most watched primary debate ever. He also moderated the March 10, 2016, Republican presidential debate in Miami, which drew almost 12 million viewers and according to Variety "garnered acclaim for its substance."
In 2017, he received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Also in 2017, he received the John F. Hogan Distinguished Service Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association.
In 2018, Tapper was part of a four-person team at CNN that included Carl Bernstein, Jim Sciutto, and Evan Perez that won the Merriman Smith Award for broadcast reporting on the White House under deadline pressure.
Following the contentious first 2020 presidential election debate, Tapper garnered attention for his response. He called it a "hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck".
In January 2021, before the Inauguration of Joe Biden, CNN announced that Tapper's role would expand to be the network's "lead anchor for all major Washington events", including election nights. Additionally, they announced that Dana Bash would join Tapper as a co-host on State of the Union, alternating hosting weeks.
In 2024, Tapper moderated a Republican primary Debate alongside Dana Bash between Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley before the Iowa caucuses; it was viewed by around 2.6 million people.
Tapper also co-moderated the 2024 presidential election debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden alongside Bash in which Biden's poor performance led to his withdrawal from the race. While Biden's confused comments and overall frail appearance during the debate led to widespread concerns about his health and stamina, Tapper and Bash were criticized for not fact-checking Trump's many false statements, such as his assertion that Nancy Pelosi had turned down a chance to deploy the National Guard on January 6, 2021. The controversial decision led to discussions among the media and public about journalistic responsibility.
In a September 2024 interview with Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Tapper and fellow CNN host Dana Bash characterized Michigan U.S. congresswoman Rashida Tlaib's remarks about the attorney general Dana Nessel as antisemitic. According to the Detroit Metro Times, this was not true. Tapper subsequently clarified that he was talking about Nessel's view, not his own.
