Trump meets with top TV network executives and anchors
Several media executives and news anchors made the trip to Trump Tower in Manhattan Monday afternoon for a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump for what was characterized as a “reset” gathering.
The executives and anchors spotted in the lobby of his Fifth Avenue headquarters included CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and CNN’s president, Jeff Zucker, executives from Fox News as well as CBS News’ Charlie Rose, John Dickerson, Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King. After the meeting, top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway called the meeting “excellent” and “unprecedented.”
“Excellent meeting with the top executives and anchors of the major networks - ABC, CBS, NBC - which of course includes MSNBC, Fox News and CNN represented,” Conway told reporters at Trump Tower. “Pretty unprecedented meeting we pulled together in two days.”
Conway also said the meeting was a kind of “reset” button on relations with the media, though Conway also said “there’s no need to mend fences.”
“It was an off the record meeting, very cordial, very productive, genial. But it was also very candid and very honest,” she said. “From my perspective, it’s great to hit the ‘reset’ button. It was a long, hard-fought campaign. Donald Trump proved that he animated America, he understood American and now he will be president to all Americans.”
Before the election, when Trump was lagging in the polls, there were reports that he was considering launching a Trump TV network after the election. During the campaign, Trump railed against what he called “the dishonest media” at campaign rallies.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump will meet with the New York Times and other publications, according to Conway.
Trump was also meeting Monday with Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who’s interested in being veterans affairs secretary; Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who’s also Mitch McConnell’s wife; and former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was a surrogate for Mr. Trump during the campaign.
CBS News’ Arden Farhi contributed to this report.