Don't hear much

Trump's call to 'Fox and Friends' explains why we don't hear much from him

by Brian Stelter

President Trump's interactions with reporters have been limited lately. His schedule of interviews has been severely cut back.
Maybe this phone call to "Fox & Friends" shows why.

Trump called into his favorite morning show Thursday and almost shouted through the phone about a variety of grievances.

His anger was palpable through the phone. Even the Fox hosts -- who are naturally sympathetic to his talking points -- seemed surprised by the stream of consciousness.

Some viewers praised the interview via social media, but many others expressed shock and concern.

"What is going on????" Washington Post White House correspondent Josh Dawsey tweeted.

When anything-goes co-host Steve Doocy "can't keep a straight face, you know this is a rollercoaster interview," Bloomberg White House reporter Justin Sink tweeted.

The interview was announced on Wednesday evening.

The announcement was notable because Trump rarely grants interviews nowadays, even to his Fox friends.

The last time he sat down for an on-camera interview with Fox was back in November, almost six months ago.

Since then, he has given a handful of interviews to outlets like The New York Times, but he has mostly shunned the press corps. He has not held a formal solo press conference in over a year.

He did call into Fox one other time this year -- to the show hosted by his friend and informal adviser Jeanine Pirro -- but that was in February.

He sometimes speaks to small groups of reporters during cabinet meetings and while walking to and from Marine One. But he is mostly inaccessible.

This weekend he is snubbing the White House Correspondents Association's annual dinner for a second straight year.

These are signs of a president in a bunker -- seeking shelter from the storm.

Conservative commentator and MSNBC host Hugh Hewitt tweeted on Thursday that Trump should give interviews more often.

"Listening to @realDonaldTrump having fun and swinging from the hips on @foxandfriends and wondering why he hasn't been doing this more. This works. He's the best promoter of his own record and people," Hewitt wrote.

Others were not nearly as supportive. "You can practically hear the spittle flying out of Trump's mouth," liberal columnist Ana Marie Cox tweeted.

James Poniewozik, TV critic for The New York Times, said he was sure that the Trump interview "was a hit with the actual Fox & Friends audience."

"The way he speaks -- the rants, complaints, grievances -- is basically an EEG of how watching a day of Fox is designed to make the viewer feel. It's like the inner monologue of the show," Poniewozik tweeted.