White House reporters already 'exhausted' by second Trump administration
The White House press corps is already "exhausted" at the outset of the second Trump administration.
"Anybody who went through it the last time remembers how nonstop it was. It ends up kind of becoming all-consuming and taking over your life. It wears you down," New York Times White House correspondent Peter Baker told Vanity Fair on Wednesday, adding that "you have to expect that covering a big story is, by definition, taxing because it’s important."
Reporters commented on how President-elect Trump was already kicking off a hectic news cycle with his rapid policy and cabinet nomination announcements.
"Everybody’s exhausted, and he hasn’t even taken office yet," Baker said.
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The Hill national political reporter Julia Manchester described Trump as "someone who thrives on unpredictability" with a sense of "déjà vu" permeating the press corps.
"It was right into the fire with this transition, with the Cabinet picks. And I think overall, just outside of the press corps, the country itself was feeling burnt out," Manchester said.
Politico national political correspondent Meredith McGraw agreed that "no matter where Trump goes, what he does, there’s behind-the-scenes drama and intrigue." However, she added that outlets are likely going to be less "hair on fire" when reporting on every single Trump post and will instead be "thinking bigger-picture about stories."
Baker also remarked that news organizations will need to "recognize that we’re not going to jump on every single stray voltage that comes out of his phone."
Some of the reporters voiced concerns over Trump’s ongoing clashes with the media, believing they could be kicked out of the briefing room entirely.
"If Trump kicks us out of the White House briefing room… then fine, we’ll still cover from the outside," Baker said. "We’ll take on the challenge as it develops, but I don’t think we’re going to shrink from that."
In contrast to 2016, though, McGraw acknowledged Trump and his team will be coming with the knowledge of "how the media works" that "they’ll definitely tap into," along with "relationships with news organizations and reporters that they’ve had for a long time."
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"We have to recognize that he is a different, more experienced person at turning the levers of power than he was the first time around," Baker said.