Donald Trump Cancels NY Times Meeting, Then Changes His Mind
President-elect Donald Trump has decided to cancel a meeting with the New York Times, a day after berating media chiefs at his headquarters for “unfair” coverage.
Without elaborating, Donald Trump tweeted that the New York Times had changed the terms of the meeting.
The president-elect posted: “They continue to cover me inaccurately and with a nasty tone!”
Donald Trump has had an antagonistic relationship with the press, railing against liberal bias, even while benefiting from blanket TV coverage.
On November 22, he tweeted that he had called off his meeting with what he always refers to as the “failing” New York Times.
Donald Trump – known to be an avid consumer of newspapers and news shows – said the New York Times had switched the terms at the last moment, adding: “Not nice.”
However, Jonathan Mahler, a political correspondent for the newspaper, tweeted that it was Donald Trump who had tried to change the rules of engagement.
Photo AP
Jonathan Mahler said Donald Trump had asked for the discussion to be private and off-the-record, but the daily had refused.
The New York Times said it had been unaware the meeting was canceled until Donald Trump tweeted.
Hours later, Hope Hicks, a Trump spokesperson, told reporters at Trump Tower that the meeting was back on.
The NY Times confirmed: “Mr. Trump’s staff has told us that the President Elect’s meeting with The Times is on again.
“He will meet with our publisher off-the-record and that session will be followed by an on-the-record meeting with our journalists and editorial columnists.”
On November 21, Donald Trump invited leading figures from the American TV networks for an off-the-record briefing at Trump Tower, where they were subjected to a tirade about election reporting.
The media executives and anchors – including NBC’s Lester Holt, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos – were apparently expecting to discuss coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency.
But instead he reportedly labeled them “liars” and called journalists the “lowest form of humanity”.
One attendee leaked the details to the New York Post, saying: “The meeting was a total disaster.
“The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing down.”
The New York Times reports that during Donald Trump’s complaint about “dishonest” coverage he singled out CNN president Jeffrey Zucker.
The Washington Post reported that Donald Trump also referred to NBC’s Katy Tur and ABC’s Martha Raddatz, without naming them.
Throughout his campaign Donald Trump accused the media of dishonesty, sometimes targeting individual journalists at his rallies and even denying some outlets accreditation to his events.
The Republican feuded with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, who later alleged that he had offered her gifts, including hotel stays, in an attempt to influence coverage.
Megyn Kelly said she was not the only journalist who had been offered freebies by Donald Trump.
Two weeks after his shock election victory, Donald Trump has yet to hold a news conference, and media outlets have griped that no president-elect has delayed holding a press briefing for so long since Jimmy Carter in 1976.