The last briefing from a White House press secretary occurred 245 days ago and will not resume until President Trump gives the go-ahead.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who has yet to give a formal briefing since starting her job in July, told CNN Business in an email that the decision about whether to hold them falls on Trump. She said that she will “hold a press briefing when the president wants me to.”
“That is ultimately his decision,” Grisham said. “The briefings, which are meant to inform the public, were becoming a spectacle.”
“In addition, the president himself answers questions on a weekly basis, as do I and my entire team,” she said. “We’ve also had briefings at the podium with subject matter experts, and to be honest, many [in the] press have told me that is more helpful.”
In September, Grisham said on Fox News that reporters were using the press briefings to “get famous.”
“They are writing books now. I mean, they are all getting famous off of this presidency, and so I think it’s great what we are doing now,” she said.
In January, Trump tweeted that he had instructed Grisham’s predecessor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, to stop holding the briefings, bucking a tradition going back 50 years when President Richard Nixon removed an indoor swimming pool installed by President Franklin Roosevelt to build a briefing room in its place.
“The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the ‘podium’ much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press. I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!” Trump said.
The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the “podium” much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press. I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019
The sometimes hostile relationship between reporters and the Trump administration has itself made headlines. CNN’s Jim Acosta temporarily had his credentials revoked after he refused to surrender the microphone when questioning Trump.
Grisham and others in the administration have insisted that despite the dearth of briefings, the president has been very open with speaking to reporters, often answering their questions during press gaggles before or after events, or on the White House lawn.
