‘Fake news’: Trump tells spokeswoman not to bother with press meets

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has told his chief spokeswoman Sarah Sanders “not to bother” with formal media briefings in the White House, because journalists don’t cover her fairly.

“The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the ‘podium’ much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press,” Trump tweeted. “I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!”

The White House briefing room, a keystone of modern presidential messaging, has been largely abandoned under Trump. The last briefing where Sanders took questions from reporters was on December 18. On January 3, Trump himself made a surprise appearance — his first at the briefing room podium — to deliver a statement on border security, but took no questions.

The White House Correspondents Association, which represents journalists covering the president, attacked Trump’s statement. “This retreat from transparency and accountability sets a terrible precedent,” said association president Olivier Knox.

On Wednesday, Sanders brushed aside criticism that the Trump administration is not accessible to the press, saying that such an opinion is “absolutely laughable”. “I take questions from reporters every single day. The idea that this White House isn’t accessible to the press is absolutely laughable,” Sanders told ‘Fox & Friends’. However, she was noncommittal about the future of White House press briefings. “We’ll see what happens. As the president said, he doesn’t like the decorum in the White House.”