In a mini-tweetstorm Friday that combined references to alleged unfair treatment of his spokespeople and the firing of FBI Director James Comey, President Trump raised the possibility of canceling regular briefings with the White House press corps.
The Fake Media is working overtime today!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
…Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future “press briefings” and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has threatened to upend the conventions of D.C. reporting. In the runup to the inauguration, a senior administration official told Esquire that the transition team was considering evicting the White House press corps from the James Brady briefing room.
That plan never came to fruition, although the White House has changed the briefing process from the Obama administration’s protocol by calling on more conservative outlets and allowing journalists to ask questions remotely via Skype.
President Trump’s tweet came today after “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski excoriated various White House spokespeople, including Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Sean Spicer, saying that they have been proven “not credible” in repeated appearances. Savvy observers of Trump’s Twitter habits have noticed a correlation between the topics on cable news and Trump’s feed.
Trump has made empty threats against the press before on Twitter. In March, he suggested changing libel laws in a tweet that referenced the “failing” New York Times.
The Trump administration’s record on conducting open and regular press briefings has been generally good, with one exception: In February, several news organizations boycotted a press gaggle after their colleagues — including journalists from The New York Times, CNN and the L.A. Times — were excluded.
Benjamin Mullin is the managing editor of Poynter.org. He previously reported for Poynter as a staff writer, Google Journalism Fellow and Naughton Fellow, covering journalism innovation, business practices and ethics. He’s also reported for USA TODAY College and The Sacramento Bee, and he was editor in chief of The Orion, Chico State’s student-run newspaper. An Air Force brat who grew up around Northern California, he’s still adjusting to the Florida sunshine.
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