Trump gives great meetings
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump says the reviews are in: He puts on a “tremendous” meeting.
The former reality television star greeted reporters in the Cabinet Room on Wednesday by saying, “Welcome back to the studio.”
Then he proceeded to relive a Cabinet Room session from the prior day, when he had allowed reporters and TV cameras to stick around for much of his meeting with a bipartisan group of legislators on the thorny issue of immigration.
“It was a tremendous meeting. Actually, it was reported as incredibly good. And my performance — you know, some of them called it a performance — I consider it work,” Trump said.
Added Trump: “It got great reviews by everybody other than two networks, who were phenomenal for about two hours. Then, after that, they were called by their bosses for saying, ‘Oh, wait a minute.’”
Trump went on to say he had received letters from news anchors calling it “one of the greatest meetings they’ve ever witnessed.”
He added that “the media will ultimately support Trump in the end, because they’re going to say, if Trump doesn’t win in three years, they’re all out of business.”
Asked for examples of letters received from news anchors, the White House said it had received “private communications.” It also offered a series of positive on-air comments and tweets from journalists about the unusual access to the meeting.
During his remarks Trump swung from praising his own meeting coverage to telling journalists that they were dependent on his presidency for ratings to threatening a “strong look” at libel laws.
Still, Trump thanked the journalists in front of him, joking: “You've gotten very familiar with this room. I appreciate your nice comments yesterday.”
Trump claimed earlier Wednesday that his administration is taking a look at the nation’s libel laws. He’s calling the current laws “a sham and a disgrace.”
Trump said during a cabinet meeting that people shouldn't be able to say things that are false and then “smile as money pours into your bank account.”
Trump said the laws should provide “meaningful recourse in our courts.”
He was speaking in the aftermath of publication of the book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Author Michael Wolff has drawn an unflattering portrait of the 45th president.
Trump previously called the book a “work of fiction” and bemoaned the country’s “very weak” libel laws.