In more ways than one, the White House was doing its best to control the narrative Wednesday.
Having already seized control of the rotation of reporters assigned to cover the president’s daily schedule — a job formerly undertaken by the White House Correspondents Association — President Donald Trump took it one step further, asking one of the reporters new to the press pool, “Fox and Friends” co-anchor Lawrence Jones, to tell viewers “we did a great job, please. OK?”
“Say it was unbelievable,” the president said after adjourning the first Cabinet meeting of his second term on Feb. 26. The White House feed had already been cut off, but The Associated Press’ audio feed remained running and captured the hot mic moment.
Jones, who had already lobbed some softball questions for the president (including, “Who is your favorite Cabinet member?”) did not disappoint.
“The president picked Cabinet members that can really present his ideas, their ideas clearly. He doesn’t have to worry about them going out and blowing everything up – everybody is on the same page,” co-host Steve Doocy noted.
“I find it great, too,” responded Jones. “These are guys that normally – and gals – are used to communicating their ideas. They share the vision of the president and they are communicating it in such a succinct way. I don’t think we have seen this ever in an administration.”
“That folks shows how terribly insecure this president really is,” said one critic who responded to a viral report on the caugh-on-camera moment. “He knows we watched most of it right?” someone else said.
In truth, the meeting was dominated by Elon Musk, who opened with a weak joke, saying, “Well, I should just call myself a humble tech support here,” then droned on from there. Still photos showed the president dozing off during Musk’s presentation.
Citing his job as “essential,” Musk previewed the next federal agency on DOGE’s chopping block. “We spend a lot on the Defense Department, but we’re spending like, over a trillion dollars on interest. If this continues, the country will go, become de facto bankrupt,” he said.
Jones wasn’t the only Trump-friendly correspondent to join the press pool Thursday.
Chief White House Correspondent Brian Glenn of Real America’s Voice, perhaps the most sycophantic of the pro-Trump networks, and Newsmax White House correspondent James Rosen were part of the gaggle, replacing legacy media outlets including the Associated Press, which has been barred from White House events for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America after the president announced the change in an executive order.
Meanwhile, the White House Correspondents Association has announced it will no longer coordinate shared coverage of the White House as long as the dispute over unfettered media access continues. Also, on Wednesday, the president announced he will sue reporters who use the common practice of anonymous quotes in any unfavorable stories or books about him. Such quotes are often used to elicit more candor from a source who might otherwise be afraid to speak out.
What does all this mean for citizens? Fewer tough questions and more favorable coverage for the president, whose executive overreach has already gone unchecked by Congress.
It explains why this clip from “The Simpsons” was all over the internet on Thursday. When nuclear plant owner Montgomery Burns decides to run for governor, his campaign proposes a dinner with the Simpsons family to help the energy executive connect better with working-class voters. Lisa Simpson is forced to ask this question of the family’s dinner guest:
“Mr. Burns, your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?”
Get used to it.
