Donald Trump ditches press pool for steak dinner at Manhattan restaurant


At 6:14 p.m. on Tuesday, Donald Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the reporters and photographers covering Trump at his Manhattan residence that the president-elect was staying in his apartment for the rest of the night — calling a "lid." Less than two hours later, an unscheduled motorcade left Trump Tower, and the press pool did not know where Trump was until a Bloomberg municipal-bond journalist tweeted out a photo of him entering the upscale 21 Club restaurant (which she misidentified as Keene's).
Hicks later said she had not meant to lie to the press and had not known Trump was slipping out to dine with his family, then asked the press pool to respect the president-elect's privacy. That is traditionally not how the presidency works — at least one member of the protective press pool always follows the president around to inform the public where he is and document if anything happens to or near the U.S. commander-in-chief. Ditching the press is a big violation of protocol, and not the first from Trump, who declined to travel with the press while he was campaigning and hasn't held a press conference since the summer. "With his Tuesday night actions, the Trump Administration is shaping up to be the least accessible to the public and the press in modern history," say Alexandra Jaffe and Ali Vitali at NBC News.
At first glance, this sounds like "a Beltway media thing, or an inside baseball thing," but it really isn't, Rachel Maddow said on MSNBC. "Once you are president, once you are president-elect, it is a matter of tradition, it is a matter of security, it is a matter of national interest that you don't go dark — you're not really allowed to be a private person anymore," she explained. "There's no law that says the president or president-elect has to allow a press pool representative to follow their movements, but it is tradition, and it's tradition for a reason, and it's a tradition that has a national security basis, and it's a tradition, so far at least, that Donald Trump appears intent on not following." Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
How successful would Elon Musk's third party be?
Today's Big Question Musk has vowed to start a third party after falling out with Trump
-
Music reviews: Bruce Springsteen and Benson Boone
Feature "Tracks II: The Lost Albums" and "American Heart"
-
Why passkeys are the next frontier in digital security
A disruptive new technology promises to put passwords to bed forever — but not yet
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible