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Trump Abruptly Ends CBS Interview After Wiretap Question Trump Abruptly Ends CBS Interview After Wiretap Question
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump cut short a television interview that was aired on Monday after being asked about his unsubstantiated claim that President Barack Obama had spied on him, reviving an incendiary charge even as his re-election campaign released its first advertisement taking aim at “fake news.” WASHINGTON — President Trump marked his first 100 days in office by attacking the news media with a calculated fury not seen since the beginning of his administration — while rewarding the journalists he allegedly loathes with long, newsy chats in the Oval Office, Air Force One rides and meals.
In the interview, which was timed to place a capstone on his first 100 days, Mr. Trump resurfaced allegations made in a bombshell Twitter post from early March that Mr. Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower, saying that while the former president had been “very nice to me,” the two have had “difficulties.” Mr. Trump’s split-personality approach to the press was on particular display on Saturday, when he skipped the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner to blast the news media in front of a friendly rally audience in Harrisburg, Pa., and then sat down with John Dickerson, host of CBS’s “Face the Nation,” for a wide-ranging conversation.
“You saw what happened with surveillance,” Mr. Trump said, declining to elaborate. Asked by John Dickerson, the host of CBS’s “Face the Nation,” “What does that mean, sir?” Mr. Trump said: “You can figure that out yourself.” The interview was the capstone of a frenetic period in which Mr. Trump sat for interviews with representatives of the very media he has publicly criticized and dispatched his top advisers to provide virtually nonstop briefings for them. The president and his aides made the case that he had accomplished significant things since taking office, despite Mr. Trump’s lack of major legislative achievements.
In his interview with Mr. Dickerson, the president veered from sales mode to sullen defiance. The first part, which aired on Sunday, was all sales. The second part, which aired on Monday, ended when Mr. Trump walked away abruptly after Mr. Dickerson pressed him on his false claim, expressed on Twitter, that President Barack Obama had placed a “tap” on Trump Tower.
Mr. Trump said that while the former president had been “very nice to me,” the two have had “difficulties.”
“You saw what happened with surveillance,” Mr. Trump said, declining to elaborate. Asked by Mr. Dickerson, “What does that mean, sir?” Mr. Trump said: “You can figure that out yourself.”
When Mr. Dickerson asked whether Mr. Trump stood by his characterization of Mr. Obama as “sick and bad,” the president appeared to become agitated and said, “You can take it any way you want.”When Mr. Dickerson asked whether Mr. Trump stood by his characterization of Mr. Obama as “sick and bad,” the president appeared to become agitated and said, “You can take it any way you want.”
“I have my own opinions,” Mr. Trump continued, as Mr. Dickerson tried in vain to ask him for an explanation. “You can have your own opinions.”“I have my own opinions,” Mr. Trump continued, as Mr. Dickerson tried in vain to ask him for an explanation. “You can have your own opinions.”
The president then ended the interview, saying, “O.K., it’s enough.”The president then ended the interview, saying, “O.K., it’s enough.”
The testy exchange, which was filmed on Saturday, was at odds with the image of competence and message discipline that White House officials have labored to show over the past week, as they have tried to demonstrate progress around Mr. Trump’s 100-day mark, a time frame the president rejected as ridiculous but has gone out of his way to frame as an unparalleled success. Congressional investigators from both parties have said they have uncovered no evidence to support Mr. Trump’s claims. But congressional Republicans and White House officials have said that some communications of Mr. Trump’s associates were picked up as part of routine surveillance conducted by American intelligence agencies.
As part of the effort, Mr. Trump on Monday released a campaign advertisement declaring his first 100 days a triumph and questioning the way the news media has covered him. The testy exchange was at odds with the image of competence and message discipline White House officials have labored to show over the past week, as they have tried to demonstrate progress around Mr. Trump’s 100-day mark, a time frame the president rejected as ridiculous but has gone out of his way to frame as an unparalleled success.
The 30-second television advertisement and a series of more targeted versions that are to run online are the latest examples of Mr. Trump’s extraordinarily early return to campaigning when most presidents would be spending their time pushing through their highest legislative priorities. While he takes pains to hide it from his supporters, Mr. Trump’s public churl is often followed by private charm. Shortly after cutting short the interview on Saturday, Mr. Dickerson flew with the president on Air Force One and then had dinner with him, according to a person with knowledge of the interaction.
It follows a frenetic period in which Mr. Trump sat for several interviews with representatives of the very news media he has publicly criticized and sent his top advisers to provide virtually nonstop briefings for them. The president and his aides made the case that he had accomplished significant things since taking office, despite Mr. Trump’s lack of major legislative achievements. “I love your show,” he said sarcastically to Mr. Dickerson at one point in the interview. “I call it ‘Deface the Nation.’”
On Monday, the White House reverted to a less subtle way of delivering its message, releasing a campaign advertisement declaring his administration’s beginning a triumph, and questioning the way the press has covered him.
The 30-second television ad and a series of more targeted versions that are to run online were the latest examples of Mr. Trump’s extraordinarily early return to campaigning at a point when most presidents would be spending their time pushing through their highest legislative priorities.
“America has rarely seen such success,” the narrator says in the ad, listing the confirmation of Justice Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, companies investing in jobs in the United States, the elimination of “regulations that kill American jobs” and the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.“America has rarely seen such success,” the narrator says in the ad, listing the confirmation of Justice Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, companies investing in jobs in the United States, the elimination of “regulations that kill American jobs” and the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.
The advertisement also refers to “the biggest tax cut plan in history,” without mentioning that Mr. Trump has yet to offer any legislation — or even a set of policy prescriptions — for reordering the tax code to achieve the enormous cuts for businesses and individuals that he has endorsed.
“You wouldn’t know it from watching the news,” the narrator adds, showing the faces of anchors for mainstream news broadcasters as the words “FAKE NEWS” flash across the screen in large red letters.“You wouldn’t know it from watching the news,” the narrator adds, showing the faces of anchors for mainstream news broadcasters as the words “FAKE NEWS” flash across the screen in large red letters.
But Mr. Trump’s snub of Mr. Dickerson encapsulated the president’s paradoxical relationship with a news media he professes to loathe but refuses to ignore. He takes pains to hide it from his supporters, but Mr. Trump’s public churl is often followed by private charm. Shortly after cutting short the interview on Saturday, Mr. Dickerson flew with the president on Air Force One and then had dinner with him, according to a person with knowledge of the interaction. The ad also mentions “the biggest tax cut plan in history,” without mentioning that Mr. Trump has yet to offer any legislation — or even a set of policy prescriptions — for reordering the tax code to achieve the enormous cuts for businesses and individuals that he has endorsed.
“I love your show,” he said sarcastically to Mr. Dickerson at one point in the interview. “I call it Deface the Nation.” It also does not mention Mr. Trump’s failed attempt to push through a health care overhaul, after having vowed that the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act would be his earliest priority. Nor is there any reference to his attempts to crack down on illegal immigration, which have largely stalled.
Yet the levity evaporated after Mr. Trump returned to his accusations that Mr. Obama conducted surveillance of his campaign. Congressional investigators from both parties have said they have uncovered no evidence to support Mr. Trump’s claims. But congressional Republicans and White House officials have said that some communications of Mr. Trump’s associates were picked up as part of routine surveillance conducted by American intelligence agencies.
While the White House has sought to project a more disciplined image, Mr. Trump has reverted to his favorite political gear: picking fights and, at times, saying the first thing that pops into his head, giving free range to his opinions, grudges and unique interpretations of American history, and insisting on superlatives to describe his achievements.
The advertisement released on Monday does not mention Mr. Trump’s failed attempt to push through a health care overhaul, after having vowed that the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act would be his earliest priority. Nor is there any reference to his attempts to crack down on illegal immigration, which have largely stalled.
Congress has refused to provide any money for the border wall that was his most talked-about campaign promise, and courts have blocked two of his efforts to bar travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries and to defund so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to help the federal authorities track and deport illegal immigrants.Congress has refused to provide any money for the border wall that was his most talked-about campaign promise, and courts have blocked two of his efforts to bar travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries and to defund so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to help the federal authorities track and deport illegal immigrants.
The TV advertisement is paid for by Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign, for which he filed papers in January, on the day he was sworn in. The campaign said it would spend $1.5 million to air the ad across the country, a relatively small sum that does not indicate a major national public relations offensive. The TV advertisement was paid for by Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign, for which he filed papers in January, on the day he was sworn in. The campaign said it would spend $1.5 million to air the ad across the country, a relatively small sum that does not indicate a major national public relations offensive.
But it highlights Mr. Trump’s remarkably early return to partisan politics, a strategy that has included a series of re-election campaign rallies that began only weeks into his presidency. But airing the ad underscored Mr. Trump’s remarkably early return to partisan politics, a strategy that has included a series of re-election campaign rallies that began only weeks into his presidency.
The latest such gathering was in Harrisburg, Pa., on Saturday night, timed to coincide with the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association, which Mr. Trump declined to attend. He took a red-meat political tone as he reprised the populist themes of his campaign and angrily denounced the news media. The latest such gathering was in Harrisburg, timed to coincide with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Yet even as he gleefully snubbed it, Mr. Trump offered an exclusive interview to the association’s president, Jeff Mason of Reuters. It was arguably the most telling of the dozen or so sit-downs the president conducted.
“I loved my previous life. I had so many things going,” Mr. Trump told Reuters in an interview just before the dinner. “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.”