President Trump spent the better part of an hour answering questions on the administration’s response to the coronavirus emergency, talking up the team of specialists at his side and attempting to reassure the public.
“We’ll be doing this quite often,” he said as he wrapped things up. “We’re going to keep you abreast of all the facts.”
For a president who brings a television producer mindset to everything he does, the location of his backdrop, the James Brady briefing room of the White House, was almost as significant as the message.
The room had been largely idle for the past year since the press secretary’s daily briefing ended, but Saturday’s appearance marked the second time in four days the president used its lectern.
Although aides said the location was based on the logistics of being able to accommodate quickly the White House press corps, the significance was not lost on watchers of Trump.
“He’s a believer in central casting for his appointments, and he believes in the right location for the occasion,” said a former White House official. “This is an issue that will need repeated briefing, and the briefing room is what they would be using in movies.”
The last daily press briefing was held on March 11, 2019, by Sarah Sanders. For the past year, the room has been something of a storage space for tripods and camera gear, as well as a backdrop for visitor photos.
Instead, the president has preferred to address the media himself, taking questions for up to 45 minutes on the South Lawn. Once or twice a week, he delivers remarks above the whir of the engines of Marine One before flying out from the White House.
Things changed last Wednesday when the president arrived back from India and promptly announced, via Twitter, that he would be holding a coronavirus news briefing to introduce his emergency task force.
Surprised aides scrambled to arrange logistics before announcing that it would be held in the briefing room, sending a wave of anticipation through waiting journalists.
Reporters crammed three-deep beside the 49 allocated seats to see Trump introduce Vice President Mike Pence as the head of his emergency response and stamp White House authority on a crisis that had been marked by mixed messaging.
He left after 55 minutes with a hint that he would be back in the briefing room before long.
“Yeah, we’ll do it,” he said. “If you like it, we’ll do it.”
He was back on Saturday, again signaling the news conference with a tweet. Confirmation that he would be delivering remarks in the briefing room followed half an hour later from his press team.
“It’s nice to see the briefing room getting dusted off and cleaned up,” said Martha Kumar, director of the Presidential Transition Project, who has covered eight presidents and their press conferences.
She added that each president came to understand that there was no better place to deliver credible, authoritative information in times of crisis.
“The briefing room, in a way, is a nonpartisan setting, in that every president and his team have come to the podium to deliver information that the public is anxious to hear,” she said.
On Monday, it was Pence’s turn to deliver a coronavirus update from its lectern.
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White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the room was set up with cameras and sound equipment, making it the most practical place to reach as many journalists as possible.
“You can certainly expect more briefings from various people regarding the coronavirus,” she said. “The briefing room has been a convenient place to quickly assemble the media to speak on such an important topic.”
