Trump says the media is “vital” to making America great again…
During an exclusive Fox News Digital interview on Monday, President-elect Donald Trump expressed his interest in establishing a good rapport with the press and making himself available for questions.
“In order to Make America Great Again, it is very important, if not vital, to have a free, fair and open media or press,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments come on the heels of a meet-up with MSNBC Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on Friday in Palm Beach — his first meeting with the two in seven years.
“I received a call from Joe Scarborough requesting a meeting for him and Mika, and I agreed that it would be a good thing if such a meeting took place,” Trump said. “We met at Mar-a-Lago on Friday morning at 8:00.”
Trump said the meeting was “extremely cordial.”
“Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication,” he said. “In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.”
Trump added that they “congratulated me on running a ‘great and flawless campaign, one for the history books,’ which I really believe it was, but it was also a campaign where I worked long and hard — perhaps longer and harder than any presidential candidate in history.”
“We talked about various Cabinet members — both announced and to be announced. As expected, they like some very much, but not all,” Trump said. “The meeting ended in a very positive manner, and we agreed to speak in the future.”
Trump added, “I expect this will take place with others in the media, even those that have been extremely hostile.”
Trump says he has “an obligation to the American public, and to our country itself, to be open and available to the press.”
“If not treated fairly, however, that will end,” Trump said. “The media is very important to the long-term success of the United States of America.”
Scarborough and Brzezinski defended their meet-up with Trump on Monday’s Morning Joe.
“Five years of political warfare has deeply divided Washington and the country. We have been as clear as we know how in expressing our deep concerns about President Trump’s actions and words in the coarsening of public debate,” Brzezinski said.
“But for nearly 80 million Americans, election denialism, public trials, January 6th were not as important as the issues that moved them to send Donald Trump back to the White House with their vote,” she continued.
“Joe and I realize it’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but also talking with him,” she added
