For reporters, it’s hardly unusual to call sources on the phone to learn details or get quotes that will enliven their stories. Sometimes people will talk, sometimes they won’t.
But the president of the United States?
In an almost unfathomable level of access, reporters who call President Donald Trump on his personal cell phone often get an answer — and an interview — from the leader of the free world on the spot. There’s evidence that this is happening more frequently.
Paradoxically, it’s the same president who popularized the term “fake news” and has battled against the press for years on multiple fronts. Just last week, Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue CNN and The New York Times over their reporting on an initial government assessment of damage caused by bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities.
On the day of the June 21 bombing, Trump gave phone interviews to Jonathan Karl of ABC News, Kristen Welker at NBC News, Reuters’ Steve Holland, Axios’ Barak Ravid and both Bret Baier and Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel, according to an independent database of the president’s media appearances.
The next day, Trump spoke with Josh Dawsey of The Wall Street Journal — for all of 38 seconds, Dawsey noted — enabling the reporter to include a fresh presidential quote in the newspaper’s story about the bombing.
“I find it utterly remarkable,” said Ari Fleischer, former press secretary to President George W. Bush. “It’s classic Trump. It defies tradition.”
This spring, when he was denied an interview with Trump for an Atlantic magazine cover story, Michael Scherer dialed Trump’s number on a Saturday morning. “Who’s calling?” Trump answered. When the reporter identified himself, Trump berated him for past stories he’d written. But he didn’t hang up.
Scherer explained the story he was doing. Trump answered his questions, and was gracious about it, he said.
“The president likes speaking,” he said. “He wants to share his story. I think he feels that the more he shares his story, the better off he is. He just has a totally different approach to the press than any president I’ve covered.”
In a subsequent story, Scherer and colleague Ashley Parker explored how the telephone is like a lifeline to the president. Many other people besides reporters know the number. Trump has kept using it even after being told around Election Day of the likelihood that Chinese spies had the ability to listen in on his conversations, The Atlantic reported.
Dealing with the press — and by extension, the American public — is a significant part of a president’s job. But the interactions are generally much more formal and structured. That was the case with Trump in his first term, too; Scherer said the times he talked with Trump then, it was mediated by the White House communications office.
That wasn’t the case when they talked this spring, nor when Scherer called Trump’s phone for an interview the day of the military parade in Washington.
“There have been multiple times that people who work for the president have made clear that they weren’t happy he was talking to me,” Scherer said. “But they don’t get to make the decisions. It’s his decision.”
Asked about the calls, White House communications director Steven Cheung said Trump “is the most transparent president in history, and we celebrate his willingness to fight back against Fake News media outlets who have shown a disgusting proclivity to lie about him and his administration. The American people are better served because President Trump engages with the press on a daily basis, and we are all so thankful for his leadership, which makes our jobs much more rewarding and gratifying.”
