T is avoiding press questions, although there was a photo op scheduled for today to meet with some dissidents who escaped Communism, Korea etc. Just as the news was breaking about the $2 million dollar fines coming to T, and other harsh news for T, it was decided…no press.
On Wednesday, Trump had chosen not to speak with reporters who had assembled on the South Lawn to document his departure on Marine One en route to a campaign rally in Louisiana. The president has so often answered questions over the din of the helicopter’s rotor blades that the impromptu sessions have been dubbed “chopper talk.”
The small group of dissidents that met with Trump was left in the dark over the press access.
“We didn’t have any indication it was going to be with press or no press,” said Marion Smith, executive director of Victims of Communism, which organized the meeting. The group had successfully lobbied in 2017 for the Trump administration to formally recognize a national day of remembrance each year. This year, the day was timed to coincide with ceremonies commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9.
“I think there’s always a sensitivity to a meeting like this,” Smith said. “I’ve got to say, there was a level of back-and-forth [with Trump] that was more personal and more intimate than would have been possible with a press spray.”
