![]() ![]() “The press has unprecedented access to President Trump, yet they continue to complain because they can’t grandstand on TV,” Grisham told Axios. ![]() Sanders’ successor, Stephanie Grisham, has held none as of this writing and shows no inclination to. “I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway,” Trump said. Sanders held her last briefing on March 15, 2019. The second, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, regularly battled with the press corps – and the truth – from the podium in the briefing room. The first, Sean Spicer, was out of sync on day one with disputable claims over the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd. Those who hold the actual title – three, so far – learned it’s a foxhole from which one raises his or her head into the president’s verbal line of fire. Trump, by most assessments, functions as his own press secretary. Trump’s preference for impromptu exchanges, commonly on the White House driveway, makes the press look like a shouting mob, which sometimes they are. The president still decides whose questions he’ll answer. Regular press conferences had a protocol and, at least, a measure of decorum. He chooses when and how, of course, but that’s always the case with presidents. Bush was affable and considerably more accessible.ĭonald Trump dominates when he engages with the White House press corps. We shouted questions at him over the whir of helicopters. Reagan was well protected from the media by his staff and first lady Nancy Reagan. I covered the White House for CNN during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H. When Richard Nixon was president, for example, he had his “enemies list” that included journalists. The relationship between the president and the press is now more confrontational and more contemptuous than it has been in decades.īut while the press and the presidency have a long relationship, it has not necessarily been a cozy one. Getty/Chip Somodevilla Protecting the president Grisham has never given a press briefing as press secretary. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham (L) and Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley. The country is left with a singular voice – the president’s – but no idea whether he represents government consensus. Now, what once was part of the routine of government in Washington is, in the Trump administration, barely seen at the State Department and Pentagon and a fading memory at the White House. There is no requirement to hold White House press briefings, nor to have them televised. On another day, the press secretary could provide a corrective along the lines of “What the president meant to say….” government was doing to get Americans out of China and to keep the virus out of the U.S. They expect the White House press secretary and other officials to speak knowledgeably and authoritatively for the president and his administration.įor example, when the coronavirus outbreak was detected in China, reporters wanted to hear government officials explain what the U.S. Beyond the daily digest of the president’s activities, not all of which is public, reporters look to the briefings for depth and context for their reporting.
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