excalibur
Diamond Member
- Mar 19, 2015
- 28,559
- 57,779
- 2,290
President Trump is the most accessible President in modern times.
And at any time of day or night.
And at any time of day or night.
...
We got official confirmation at 4:21 a.m. when the president posted on Truth Social that the United States had captured Maduro and his wife and flown them out of Venezuela.
How does one call the president? Were you shocked when he answered, and did he answer directly or was he patched in?
I just called him directly and he picked up. I wasn't that surprised because the president's phone habits are pretty well-documented — he regularly picks up calls from reporters.
He said, "Hello," and I jumped right in. I told him I was calling from The New York Times and had questions about the operation.
You have President Trump's cell number. How often have you used it? Do you set a bar for how often you call it?
This is the first time I have ever called the president on his cellphone. There is an extremely high bar to reach him directly, and I called him only after consulting with Dick Stevenson, the Washington bureau chief.
How do you decide what to ask? Obviously, you don't want him to end the call, but you also want to be direct, to get information.
As soon as Mr. Trump announced that the United States had captured Maduro, we immediately had many questions. The two biggest ones: Did the president seek congressional authorization to carry out this mission? What would the next steps be for Venezuela?
Does he usually tell you to call the White House press office?
In our brief conversation, he did not complain that I had called. At the same time, he did not really answer my questions, instead directing me to tune into his news conference a few hours later.
Did you have questions prepared? How long did the call last?
Throughout the early morning hours, I was in constant communication with Dick Stevenson — as well as Eric Schmitt, who covers the military, and Julian Barnes, who covers intelligence. The three of us have worked closely on this coverage over the past year, and we were all trying to figure out exactly what happened after Anatoly first alerted us to the explosions. So just before I called the president, I checked in with the three of them and put together a list of questions.
I got in four questions — in 50 seconds — before the president hung up.
What does it tell you that he actually answered the phone — and a few questions?
Mr. Trump has been talking to reporters for decades, dating back to his time as a real estate developer in New York. And we know that he likes to be accessible — not just to reporters, but to lawmakers, staff, friends and foreign leaders. It is certainly a different style than that of his predecessors.
As a point of comparison, during my four years covering Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s presidency, I never had an interview with him. And I tried! In fact, while I was working on a book about the 2024 presidential election, I was stonewalled in my efforts to interview Mr. Biden after he left office. I eventually reached him directly on his cellphone, and after a short interview, his aides changed his phone number. I wrote about that experience in July of last year.
We got official confirmation at 4:21 a.m. when the president posted on Truth Social that the United States had captured Maduro and his wife and flown them out of Venezuela.
How does one call the president? Were you shocked when he answered, and did he answer directly or was he patched in?
I just called him directly and he picked up. I wasn't that surprised because the president's phone habits are pretty well-documented — he regularly picks up calls from reporters.
He said, "Hello," and I jumped right in. I told him I was calling from The New York Times and had questions about the operation.
You have President Trump's cell number. How often have you used it? Do you set a bar for how often you call it?
This is the first time I have ever called the president on his cellphone. There is an extremely high bar to reach him directly, and I called him only after consulting with Dick Stevenson, the Washington bureau chief.
How do you decide what to ask? Obviously, you don't want him to end the call, but you also want to be direct, to get information.
As soon as Mr. Trump announced that the United States had captured Maduro, we immediately had many questions. The two biggest ones: Did the president seek congressional authorization to carry out this mission? What would the next steps be for Venezuela?
Does he usually tell you to call the White House press office?
In our brief conversation, he did not complain that I had called. At the same time, he did not really answer my questions, instead directing me to tune into his news conference a few hours later.
Did you have questions prepared? How long did the call last?
Throughout the early morning hours, I was in constant communication with Dick Stevenson — as well as Eric Schmitt, who covers the military, and Julian Barnes, who covers intelligence. The three of us have worked closely on this coverage over the past year, and we were all trying to figure out exactly what happened after Anatoly first alerted us to the explosions. So just before I called the president, I checked in with the three of them and put together a list of questions.
I got in four questions — in 50 seconds — before the president hung up.
What does it tell you that he actually answered the phone — and a few questions?
Mr. Trump has been talking to reporters for decades, dating back to his time as a real estate developer in New York. And we know that he likes to be accessible — not just to reporters, but to lawmakers, staff, friends and foreign leaders. It is certainly a different style than that of his predecessors.
As a point of comparison, during my four years covering Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s presidency, I never had an interview with him. And I tried! In fact, while I was working on a book about the 2024 presidential election, I was stonewalled in my efforts to interview Mr. Biden after he left office. I eventually reached him directly on his cellphone, and after a short interview, his aides changed his phone number. I wrote about that experience in July of last year.
