Analysis: Trump’s TIME interview shows a president consumed by his own news coverage

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President Donald Trump’s new interview with TIME magazine begins and ends with his complaints about the media, reaffirming how consumed he is by his own news coverage.

Even when asked about Iran or the Senate, he circled back to his feelings about the press.

“You haven’t asked me one f**king positive question,” Trump said toward the end of the interview with Eric Cortellessa and Sam Jacobs.

The entire interview was remarkably emotional. “Well, I hope I get a decent story,” Trump concluded. “I don’t think — you know, it’s hard to get a good story. Every question’s a hit. I don’t know what the hell’s wrong.”

Trump’s strong reactions may relate to his recent banning of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House — a rash action that was stopped by a federal judge last week.

The TIME reporters began the interview by signaling support for the recently banned news outlets. They asked: “Why should Americans believe that you respect the free press when you’re restricting access to the White House to some of our colleagues?”

Trump gave his usual answer, differentiating between real and “fake” news, with the implication being that he should have the power to decide what’s real and what’s not.

Dan Winters for TIME

When the reporters asked if Trump was ignoring last week’s court order — given that CNN has been banned from Air Force One twice in recent days — Trump said, “I’m not ignoring his order,” then asked which order it was.

White House communications director Steven Cheung piped in: “The judge basically ordered them to renew their access back to the White House, but that’s different than allowing the pool into the events in the Oval Office or on Air Force One.”

Cheung seemed to justify the administration’s ongoing actions against CNN by saying access to the White House complex is different than access to tight spaces like Air Force One. (The Associated Press has ongoing litigation over this distinction.)

On Thursday, the White House left CNN off the TV pool schedule again, even though CNN was listed earlier in the week. The other major networks declined to fill in — part of an ongoing show of solidarity with CNN — so no TV pool crew will travel with Trump to Texas and Oklahoma.

The TIME reporters also probed further about the ban, asking, “Why now?” Trump didn’t really answer. But he repeatedly claimed he has “never” gotten “fair press” and singled out CNN for criticism.

The reporters then asked, “Isn’t it a founding principle of the country that the press is supposed to hold government and those in power accountable? Do you believe in that?”

“It is, but they got to treat you fairly,” Trump said. “You know, when they write stories that are knowingly false, and everyone knows NBC’s, NBC’s bad too, but CNN is terrible. MS NOW changed their name because they have no friends.”

Later, he complained about The New York Times and said “maybe they’ll be next,” indicating the ban concept is still front and center in his mind.

Detailed, transcribed interviews with Trump are a rarity. TIME’s presentation of the interview may help explain why he agreed to do it. The cover photo shows Trump standing on the new White House helipad.

“The cover marks a milestone,” the magazine said: “With 56 appearances, Donald Trump has now appeared on TIME’s cover more often than any other individual, surpassing President Richard Nixon, who held the record for more than half a century.”

Trump has shown a particular interest in TIME magazine for decades.

During Monday’s contentious interview, Trump ranted about judges; showed off pictures of his White House renovations; fretted that someone will try to rip the gold out of the Oval Office; and refused to rule out demolishing the Kennedy Center.

Cortellessa ended the cover story this way: “Toward the end of our interview, I ask what he will miss most when his presidency is over. This time there is no digression, no grievance, no story. Trump does not need a moment to think: ‘This beautiful room.’”

The interview transcript is also worth reading for exchanges like this one:

That quote might be worth revisiting after the midterm elections in November.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

唐纳德·特朗普总统接受《时代》杂志的最新采访，从头到尾都在抱怨媒体，再次印证了他对自身新闻报道的过度关注。

即使被问及伊朗或参议院的问题，他最终还是会回到他对媒体的看法上来。

在与埃里克·科特莱萨和萨姆·雅各布斯的采访接近尾声时，特朗普说：“你们一个他妈的正面问题都没问我。”

整个采访过程情绪异常激动。“嗯，我希望我能得到一个像样的报道，”特朗普总结道。“我觉得——你知道，现在很难获得一个好报道。每个问题都像重击。我真不知道到底是怎么回事。”

特朗普的强烈反应可能与他最近禁止 CNN、MS NOW 和 Politico 进入白宫有关——这一鲁莽举动已于上周被联邦法官叫停。

《时代》周刊的记者在采访一开始就表达了对近期被禁新闻机构的支持。他们问道：“你们限制部分同行进入白宫，美国人凭什么相信你们尊重新闻自由？”

特朗普给出了他惯常的回答，区分了真新闻和“假新闻”，言下之意是他应该有权决定什么是真什么是假。

丹·温特斯为《时代》杂志撰稿

当记者问及特朗普是否无视上周的法院命令（鉴于 CNN 最近几天两次被禁止登上空军一号）时，特朗普说：“我没有无视他的命令”，然后问是哪项命令。

白宫通讯主任史蒂文·张插话道：“法官基本上命令他们恢复进入白宫的权限，但这与允许媒体记者进入椭圆形办公室或空军一号参加活动是不同的。”

张似乎为政府持续针对CNN的行动辩护，称进入白宫建筑群与进入空军一号等狭小空间不同。（美联社就此区别提起诉讼。）

周四，白宫再次将CNN从电视随行记者团名单中剔除，尽管CNN本周早些时候曾被列入名单。其他主要电视网拒绝顶替CNN的位置——这是他们持续声援CNN的举措之一——因此，没有电视随行记者团会随特朗普前往德克萨斯州和俄克拉荷马州。

《时代》周刊的记者们还就禁令进行了进一步追问，问道：“为什么是现在？”特朗普并没有正面回答。但他反复声称自己“从未”得到过“公正的媒体报道”，并特别点名批评了CNN。

记者们接着问道：“新闻媒体难道不应该监督政府和当权者吗？这难道不是国家的立国原则之一吗？你相信这一点吗？”

“确实如此，但他们必须公平对待你，”特朗普说。“你知道，当他们故意编造虚假故事时，大家都知道NBC的报道很糟糕，但CNN更糟。MS NOW改名是因为他们没有朋友。”

后来，他抱怨《纽约时报》，并说“也许下一个就是他们”，这表明禁令的概念仍然是他心中最重要的事。

对特朗普的详细采访实属罕见。《时代》周刊对此次采访的呈现或许能解释他为何同意接受采访。封面照片显示特朗普站在白宫新建的直升机停机坪上。

“此次封面事件具有里程碑意义，”该杂志表示：“唐纳德·特朗普已登上《时代》杂志封面 56 次，超过了其他任何一位人物，超越了保持了半个多世纪的纪录保持者理查德·尼克松总统。”

几十年来，特朗普一直对《时代》杂志表现出浓厚的兴趣。

在周一那场充满争议的采访中，特朗普对法官大发雷霆；炫耀了他翻新白宫的照片；担心有人会试图从椭圆形办公室里偷走黄金；并且拒绝排除拆除肯尼迪中心的可能性。

科特莱萨在封面故事的结尾写道：“在采访接近尾声时，我问他卸任总统后最怀念的是什么。这一次，他没有跑题，没有抱怨，也没有故事。特朗普无需思考片刻，便脱口而出：‘这间漂亮的房间。’”

访谈记录也值得一读，因为其中也包含了类似这样的对话：

11月中期选举之后，或许值得重新审视这句话。