CNN's Brian Stelter reported that an off the record meeting, which was organized by Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, was taking place between president-elect Trump and as many mainstream media journos and TV executives as they could muster at Trump Towers today.
NBC's Chuck Todd and Lester Holt; CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Erin Burnett; CBS's Norah O'Donnell, Charlie Rose, John Dickerson, and Gayle King; and ABC's George Stephanopoulos, David Muir and Martha Raddatz were some of the anchors seen entering Trump Tower shortly before 1 p.m.
Several executives from the network news divisions were also spotted on the way into Trump Tower, including ABC News president James Goldston; CNN president Jeff Zucker; Fox News co-presidents Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy; NBC News president Deborah Turness; MSNBC president Phil Griffin; and CBS News vice president Chris Isham.
Deadline Hollywood reports:
The campaign manager of Donald Trump’s winning Presidential run says that the off-the-record meeting today between the President-elect and top brass from ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, CNN and Fox News was “excellent.”
Calling the now over gathering “unprecedented,” Kellyanne Conway also said in the lobby of Trump Tower on Monday that the bigwig talk was “very candid and honest.” Noting that, even after a campaign where the media was often the focus of Trump’s distain, there was “no need to mend fences,” Conway added that it was still “great to set the reset button” in Monday’s media sit-down. “Thanks for sharing your bosses with us today,” Conway told reporters with a laugh.
Executives from The New York Times are set to drop by tomorrow with other media chiefs in the upcoming days too.
Since Trump and his surrogates browbeat the media at every turn, I wonder if he held this meeting to try and mend fences or taunt them.
TMZ phrased the meeting like this,"Trump's end game for the meeting is unclear, but we're told crow will be served."
Trump should be thanking the media for all the assistance they gave him. They refused to cover any meaningful investigation into his business affairs and didn't bother to follow up on his refusal to release his tax returns, I guess because he didn't use a private server.
I don't remember President Obama having a meeting with the media this way, do you?
UPDATED: We are getting conflicted reports coming out of the meeting.
The NY Post writes: Donald Trump’s media summit was a ‘f—ing firing squad’
“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 source added. A second source confirmed the fireworks.
And Paul Szoldra tweets - two CNN sources calling bullsh*t on the NY Post article.
