Trump threatens to cancel press briefings, hand out written responses instead

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Trump threatens to cancel press briefings, hand out written responses instead

May 12, 2017

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Sarah Huckabee Sanders added to the confusion of the press this week.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

President Trump threatened to end White House press briefings Friday, apparently because "it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at the podium with perfect accuracy." The president's comments come in response to outcry following comments made by Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders this week, in which she was exposed as being "in the dark" about Trump's process of firing FBI Director James Comey.

As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!....
— 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

NBC News' Bradd Jaffy noticed a possible TV-to-tweet connection, citing Nicolle Wallace's criticism on Today on Friday. "That White House podium used to mean something, and now they send them out say, whatever," she said.

Sopan Deb of The New York Times responded to Trump's tweets by saying: "Honestly, this is not the worst idea in the world. What is the purpose given all the contradictions that come out of the press shop?" He added, "I mean, the other option is that they can be instructed to always tell the truth and be transparent."