Described as "like a f—ing firing squad," "a horrible meeting," and "a total disaster," a sit-down between Donald Trump and journalists from the major networks went about as well as expected.
The meeting, the New York Post reports, was held Monday at Trump Tower, attended by Lester Holt and Chuck Todd of NBC News; George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, and Martha Raddatz of ABC News; Charlie Rose and Gayle King of CBS News; Jeff Zucker and Erin Burnett of CNN; and others from MSNBC and Fox News. A person with knowledge of the meeting, which the participants agreed not to talk about, told the Post the journalists went in thinking they would discuss "the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing down."
Trump reportedly called the media "dishonest, deceitful liars," and told Zucker he hates CNN, adding that everyone there is a "liar" and Zucker should be "ashamed" of himself. Without naming Katy Tur, Trump brought up an "NBC female correspondent who got it wrong, then he referred to a horrible network correspondent who cried when Hillary [Clinton] lost who hosted a debate — which was Martha Raddatz," the Post's sources recount. King asked Trump how he proposed the media work with him, while Muir asked how Trump was going to handle living in D.C. with wife Melania and youngest son Barron remaining in New York City. While the Post reports it was a "horrible meeting," Trump's spokeswoman, Kellyanne Conway, had a different takeaway, telling reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower that the summit was "excellent."
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