President Trump's top advisers wanted him to just talk about infrastructure during his impromptu press conference Tuesday in New York City. Instead, he blamed the violence at Saturday's white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on "both sides" and defended the tiki-torch wielding white nationalists who descended upon the University of Virginia campus chanting "white lives matter" and "you will not replace us" by saying they were "protesting very quietly."
Senior White House officials told CNN and NBC News that Trump wasn't supposed to answer any questions, but it wasn't surprising that he veered off track — ever since Saturday, when he was criticized for not strongly condemning white supremacy, he's been complaining to his advisers about "unfair" media coverage, one official told CNN. Another official described Trump to NBC News as going "rogue."
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.
-
Wonsan-Kalma: North Korea's new 'mammoth' beach resortUnder the Radar Pyongyang wants to boost tourism but there won't be many foreign visitors to Kim Jong Un's 'pet project'
-
The 5 best TV reboots of all timeThe Week Recommends Finding an entirely new cast to play beloved characters is harder than it looks
-
Sudoku hard: July 10, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officialsSpeed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firingsspeed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partnersSpeed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US borderSpeed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked callSpeed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side dealThe 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 policiesSpeed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
