Trump cancels, then reinstates, meeting with New York Times
President-elect tweets that paper changed terms, calling it 'not nice'; spokesperson says meeting back on
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump abruptly canceled a meeting with The New York Times on Tuesday, but shortly afterwards his spokesperson announced that the meeting would go ahead.
Trump tweeted early Tuesday that he had “cancelled today’s meeting with the failing @nytimes when the terms and conditions of the meeting were changed at the last moment. Not nice”
The newspaper denied the charge and said Trump’s aides tried to change the rules.
He’d been scheduled to meet Times reporters, editors and columnists and did not give details of his complaint.
He said in another tweet: “Perhaps a new meeting will be set up with the @nytimes. In the meantime they continue to cover me inaccurately and with a nasty tone!”
Eileen M. Murphy, the newspaper’s senior vice president for communications, said: “We did not change the ground rules at all and made no attempt to.”
The Times quoted her as saying Trump’s aides tried to alter the conditions, asking for a private meeting only, with nothing on the record, “which we refused to agree to.
“In the end,” she said, “we concluded with them that we would go back to the original plan of a small off-the-record session and a larger on-the-record session with reporters and columnists.” That was followed by Trump pulling out.
However a few hours later it turned out that Trump may be visiting with the New York Times after all.
Spokeswoman Hope Hicks told reporters gathered in Trump Tower on Tuesday morning that Trump was “going to the New York Times” later in the day.
A spokesperson for the Times tweeted that they had received confirmation that the meeting was back on.
She tweeted that the “President Elect will meet with our publisher off-the-record. Then, on-the-record with our journalists & editorial columnists.”
Trump then told his Twitter followers himself that the meeting was back on again, saying that he would “Look forward to it!”
Trump met privately Monday with representatives of the television networks.
The president-elect heralded “more great meetings” in his Manhattan tower as he continues shaping his administration before heading to Florida for Thanksgiving on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press