Friday, March 24th marked the anticlimactic end of Republicans' attempt to 'replace and replace' the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. The bill was pulled from the House floor before voting took place with an understanding that President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan had not secured the support they needed to pass it.
Not long afterwards, Washington Post political reporter Robert Costa received a phone call. "I thought it was a reader with a complaint since it was a blocked number." Instead, it was Trump phoning him from the Oval Office.
"His voice was even, his tone muted," wrote Costa. "He did not bury the lead. 'Hello, Bob,' Trump began. 'So, we just pulled it.'"
According to Costa, Trump launched right into an explanation of his decision to pull the bill before a single question was asked. Based on how the article was written, Trump continued on for sometime uninterrupted before Costa was able to ask his first question. Again, based on Costa's writing, the phone conversation then shifted to a back-and-forth, an interview.
"Are you really willing to wait to reengage on health care until the Democrats come and ask for your help, why not whip some more votes this weekend and come back next week to the House with a revised piece of legislation, what’s next on health care, if anything, policy-wise," Costa asked, among other questions.
It was not the nature of the conversation that interested me when I came across Costa's article, aptly titled, "‘Hello, Bob’: President Trump called my cellphone to say that the health-care bill was dead." It was the fact that the conversation even took place.
It highlights the current struggle the media is faced with - navigating the terrain between business and ethics. The Washington Post has managed to stay out of Trump's line of fire when it comes to his labeling of fake, dishonest media. And how are they rewarded? With direct calls from the President just moments after the first true milestone of his presidency.
Or so I thought, until I discovered the Post wasn't the lone recipient of a call from Trump. The "failing" New York Times received one too.
The situation further complicates one's understanding of the White House's relationship with the media. Why the personal phone calls, especially to a sworn enemy outlet? Was Trump not confident that his message would be adequately communicated by Sean Spicer in a press conference? Trump isn't someone who particularly enjoys taking questions, but a one-on-one phone call is one of the most intimate settings to have a conversation with a reporter. Did he have any sort of reservations about what Costa or the Times might ask?
Or is it only when he has something to hide, or in the midst of a challenge or controversy that he spits fire at the press? The most telling statement of all came at the end of the Times' article: “I’m not disappointed,” he told the New York Times. “If I were, I wouldn’t be calling you.”
I wasn’t aware of the fact that Trump called media outlets after the American Health Care Act was pulled until reading this post. This is very intriguing. Trump’s relationship with the press has been one of the most interesting, entertaining, and worrisome aspect of his presidency thus far in my opinion and the fact that he called reporters to give his side of the story only makes the relationship between the press and the president more fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI have found little more fascinating of late than Trump’s dysfunctional relationship with the press. He will go from ranting and raving on Twitter to calling Bob Costa or inviting Maggie Haberman over to the Oval Office – all in the space of a day. Why does he do this? What is the driving force that causes him to act so erratically?
ReplyDeleteIt’s still a thought in-progress, but I’m beginning to suspect that the answer has a lot to do with his ego. Trump’s reality television background has made him incredibly sensitive to reputation and ratings (think back to his dismissiveness of negative polls), so I believe that in this case especially, he was struggling to defend his decisions in the most direct way possible: through an in-person phone call.
It’s moderately terrifying that our current president is so easily swayed by what others think of him. It will be interesting to see where his Achilles heel takes our country.
-Maika Koehl