US President-elect Donald Trump is famous for his double-takes when it comes to issues, and on Monday he added another incident to the list when he first refused to attend meeting with reporters and columnists from New York Times, calling it a ‘failing’ institution, and then attending the meeting anyway.
Trump first refused to attend the meeting, demanding a change in some ground rules pertaining to the interaction. This is what New York Times tweeted:
Donald Trump canceled today’s meeting with The New York Times. NYT’s response: https://t.co/ucRTTwezpG pic.twitter.com/MdBCKanmY0
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 22, 2016
Trump decided to meet with the media giant anyway. And went on to refer to Times as a ‘jewel’, as NYT quoted.
This was the second time the new President-elect appeared for a public interview or Q&A session after his surprise victory two weeks back.
Though the interview was not broadcast live, some NYT reporters and journalists tweeted Trump’s statements in real time. Here are the highlights of what the President-elect said, in tweets:
On jailing Hillary Clinton
Trump is pressed if he has definitively ruled out prosecuting Hillary Clinton. “It’s just not something that I feel very strongly about.”
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
On White-Nationalist gatherings:
Will the President-elect condemn Richard Spencer’s alt-right gathering? “I condemn them. I disavow, and I condemn,” says Trump.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
On Breitbart and the ‘alt right’:
Trump is asked about concerns from minority groups about Breitbart News’s coverage under Steve Bannon. His reply: pic.twitter.com/FBqCGwQpBr
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
On climate change:
Trump is asked about concerns from minority groups about Breitbart News’s coverage under Steve Bannon. His reply: pic.twitter.com/FBqCGwQpBr
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016
On ‘rogue’ Republicans:
Trump savages Rs who didn’t back him, said he told Ayotte “no thank u” on a Cabinet post, Heck fell “like a lead balloon” & he wasn’t sorry
— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) November 22, 2016
On meeting Obama for the first time:
“I had a great meeting with President Obama,” Trump says, says he never met him before. “I really liked him a lot.”
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
According to NYT, the President-elect defended Steve Bannon, the controversial new Chief Strategist at the White House (and also head of alt-right publication Breitbart), calling him a ‘nice guy’.
He also spoke about separating his business entity from his role as President, though he made no qualms about declaring that he was under no legally binding obligation to separate his business empire from the White House, or define clear boundaries for both.
The NYT called Trump ‘unconventional’ but also claimed that he was flouting Presidential rules and code of conduct.
Trump said that he hoped to ‘get along’ with the media organization. NYT wrote in a report that the interview reflected the impulsiveness and ‘volatility’ of the President-Elect’s decisions.
Feature Image Source: AFP/Reuters
