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Donald Trump Says He May Cancel Daily WH Press Briefings, Twitter Exec Responds With Proposal

By Jackie Villegas
Published on: 07:42 PST, May 12, 2017

President Donald Trump might be entertaining the idea of putting an end to the daily White House press briefings as his staff struggle to uphold his narrative for the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

In a series of tweets Friday morning, President Trump complained about the media’s continued coverage of the ongoing investigations into his 2016 presidential campaign’s supposed ties to Russia. He went as far as suggesting that all future press briefings should be replaced by written statements.

Donald Trump also defended his communications team against those who have criticized the lack of coherence in the various statements coming from the White House in the aftermath of Comey’s firing. In his Friday morning Twitter rant, President Trump insisted that his “surrogates” can’t be expected to be 100 percent accurate.

While the president didn’t mention any names specifically, his tweet may have been referring to White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who has been hosting the daily press briefings in lieu of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. No reason has been given for Spicer’s absence, but it’s notable that his disappearing act comes on the heels of the viral stories about him hiding in the bushes at the White House to avoid reporters and their questions about Comey’s firing.

On Thursday Night, NBC aired Trump’s interview with NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt, in which the president confirmed that he had asked Comey if he was being investigated for his alleged ties with Russia. Donald Trump’s revelation prompted widespread criticism as many pointed out that it contradicts Huckabee Sanders’ statement. According to the White House deputy press secretary, Comey’s departure would hasten the FBI’s investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign.

As CNN reported, Huckabee Sanders said that Comey’s firing had not affected the investigation.

“We want this to come to its conclusion, we want it to come to its conclusion with integrity. And we think that we’ve actually, by removing Director Comey, taken steps to make that happen.”

But in his chat with Holt for NBC’s Nightly News, Donald Trump said that Comey’s departure would “lengthen” the investigation.

“Look, let me tell you, as far as I’m concerned I want that thing [the Russia investigation] to be absolutely done properly.”

However, because he was concerned that Comey’s dismissal would “confuse people,” the president said that he is considering the need to “expand” the probe.

“But I said to myself, ‘I might even lengthen out the investigation.'”

In the interview, Trump also contradicted his spokespeople’s earlier statements that his firing of Comey was based upon the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — a story that was also parroted by Spicer and Vice President Mike Pence.

“He made a recommendation. But regardless of [the] recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.”

Meanwhile, a Twitter executive has responded to President Donald Trump’s tweet about cancelling the traditional White House press briefings. According to Anthony Noto, the chief operating officer of Twitter, Trump should hold question-and-answer sessions on the social networking service instead.

Trump is known for his itchy Twitter finger, and hardly a day goes by without a tweet from the chief executive. Many of his tweets have been benign announcements about his work, but some, such as this and this and this, have left his followers angered, disgusted, and bewildered.

It remains unclear if President Donald Trump is actually considering doing away with the White House press briefings or if he was merely venting. If he does go through with it, the move will be an unprecedented one. It will also undoubtedly be taken as a major affront against the free press.

[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]

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