President Donald Trump’s new interview with TIME magazine begins and ends with his complaints about the media, reaffirming how consumed he is by his own news coverage.
Even when asked about Iran or the Senate, he circled back to his feelings about the press.
“You haven’t asked me one f**king positive question,” Trump said toward the end of the interview with Eric Cortellessa and Sam Jacobs.
The entire interview was remarkably emotional. “Well, I hope I get a decent story,” Trump concluded. “I don’t think — you know, it’s hard to get a good story. Every question’s a hit. I don’t know what the hell’s wrong.”
Trump’s strong reactions may relate to his recent banning of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House — a rash action that was stopped by a federal judge last week.
The TIME reporters began the interview by signaling support for the recently banned news outlets. They asked: “Why should Americans believe that you respect the free press when you’re restricting access to the White House to some of our colleagues?”
Trump gave his usual answer, differentiating between real and “fake” news, with the implication being that he should have the power to decide what’s real and what’s not.
When the reporters asked if Trump was ignoring last week’s court order — given that CNN has been banned from Air Force One twice in recent days — Trump said, “I’m not ignoring his order,” then asked which order it was.
White House communications director Steven Cheung piped in: “The judge basically ordered them to renew their access back to the White House, but that’s different than allowing the pool into the events in the Oval Office or on Air Force One.”
Cheung seemed to justify the administration’s ongoing actions against CNN by saying access to the White House complex is different than access to tight spaces like Air Force One. (The Associated Press has ongoing litigation over this distinction.)
On Thursday, the White House left CNN off the TV pool schedule again, even though CNN was listed earlier in the week. The other major networks declined to fill in — part of an ongoing show of solidarity with CNN — so no TV pool crew will travel with Trump to Texas and Oklahoma.
The TIME reporters also probed further about the ban, asking, “Why now?” Trump didn’t really answer. But he repeatedly claimed he has “never” gotten “fair press” and singled out CNN for criticism.
The reporters then asked, “Isn’t it a founding principle of the country that the press is supposed to hold government and those in power accountable? Do you believe in that?”
