“Everyone is exhausted and he hasn’t even taken office yet” Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for the New York Times, talked about White House reporters being tired from covering a second Donald Trump management.
With no time to rest, the grueling 2024 election cycle quickly devolved into the tumultuous transition period characteristic of Trump’s first term. From promising to dissolve the federal government and making sweeping proposals tariffs on Mexico and Canada to field a series of controversial Cabinet nominees—including those who have-withdraw money former representative Matt Gaetz-And setting Elon Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy In a new department, Trump launched a steady stream of developments. With more than seven weeks to go until the inauguration, the reporters I spoke to covering Trump’s first term in the Oval Office see signs of a worrying news cycle to come in office. his second term as president.
“Anyone who experienced it last remembers how relentless it was. Eventually, it becomes all-consuming and takes over your life. It wears you down,” Baker said, adding that “you have to understand that covering a big story is, by definition, taxing because it is important.” the time‘ The chief White House correspondent told me that while Trump’s ability to attract attention was as present as ever, this time it was “no longer novel.”
Baker is among a group of prominent reporters covering Trump, a group that includes colleagues such as Trump Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, And Michael Bender, as well as competitors like Politico’s Meridith McGraw, Washington Post‘S Josh Dawsey And Ashley Parker, Hill‘S Julia Manchester, by Bulwark Marc Caputo, by Puck Tara Palmeri, and CNN Kaitlan Collins, who is named White House network chief correspondent on Tuesday.
While these reporters (and many others) will certainly mine their sources to find information coming out of the White House, Trump has a habit of spreading news himself by posting on social media at odd times. suitable, even late at night and on weekends. Baker said that after lessons from 2016, responsible news organizations “realize that we are not going to interfere with every stray voltage coming from his phone.”
McGraw, who used to be a national political reporter for Politico, agreed, noting that news organizations won’t “go crazy” over every social media post Trump makes, instead “think for a moment.” bigger picture of stories” about the government. and its policies. However, “no matter where Trump goes or what he does, there is drama and intrigue behind the scenes” that tend to distract from more available policy news, she added.
Political Reporter arrested Trump’s retreat to Mar-a-Lago after the insurrection and the seeds of his return in her book, Trump in exile, add to the truth classic of journalists book above president-elect race And chaotic first semester in White House. McGraw said she doesn’t expect the pace of news to slow down anytime soon, pointing to the transition as an “indicator of the volume and pace of news we can expect” in the Trump administration Monday.
