Monday morning began with the rather surprising news of a recent peace summit at Mar-a-Lago — not between world leaders but between President-elect Donald Trump and two media hosts who've gone above and beyond over the past seven years to demonize Trump and insist to their (dwindling) audience that he is a nazi-fascist-Hitler-wannabe.
On "Morning Joe," hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski — who used to be rather friendly with Trump before his first presidential term — disclosed to their viewers that they had, in fact, gone to Mar-a-Lago over the weekend to visit with Trump in an effort to find common ground.
Response to the stunning news seemed to fall largely into three categories:
- Good — maybe it's time to bury some hatchets.
- How could they?!
- How could he?!
Trump, for his part, appears to be in the mood to encourage the sentiment reflected in the first category. He gave an exclusive interview to Fox News Digital on Monday and shared his perspective on media relations and his upcoming presidency.
EXCLUSIVE: PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that in order to "Make America Great Again," it is "vital" to have a "free, fair and open media," telling Fox News Digital that he feels he has "an obligation" to the American people to work with the press, even those who had treated him "badly beyond comprehension."
In an exclusive interview Monday morning, the president-elect said he is in the process of transforming America into "the greatest and most powerful country in the world."
Trump shared his view of the meeting with Scarborough and Brzezinski.
"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 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."
Trump then shared his expectation that similar interactions will take place with others in media, "even those that have been extremely hostile."
He explained his rationale — and his terms:
The president-elect said he feels 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."
Trump told Fox News Digital that he "will do whatever is necessary to bring our country to the highest level that it’s ever seen."
...
Trump said he "obviously" has "the upper hand at this moment."
"And while many others are calling for meetings, I am not looking for retribution, grandstanding or to destroy people who treated me very unfairly, or even badly beyond comprehension," he said. "I am always looking to give a second and even third chance, but never willing to give a fourth chance — that is where I hold the line."
Trump, recognizing that he does have the leverage at the moment, is extending an olive branch to the media that's ferociously attacked him for years but also signaling he's not going to roll over. They have an opportunity to take it and return to the practice of covering an administration with some degree of journalistic integrity (and, theoretically, taking steps toward redeeming their credibility in the process)...or they can continue to light their hair on fire and scare the bejeebers out of their diminishing viewership/readership and see how that goes.
Trump's giving them a chance. Just not a fourth chance.
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