Even when Trump deflects, the job is simple. Keep asking the question.
A White House exchange and a decades-old reporting lesson show why persistence still matters when the truth is hard to pin down.
The day after President Donald Trump posted his Easter message threatening to destroy all the power plants and bridges in Iran (“Open the [expletive] Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!”), reporter Zolan Kanno-Youngs had a question for the president.
Thanking Trump for taking his question, Kanno-Youngs, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, said:
Deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure violate the Geneva Conventions and international law —
He couldn’t get any further before Trump interrupted. The back and forth unfolded like this:
Trump: Who are you with? Who are you with?
Kanno-Youngs: I’m with The New York Times, Zolan from The New York Times.
Trump: Failing, failing! Circulation way down at The New York Times. What’s going on with that?
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