Story highlights On Thursday, President Trump held a news conference to announce his new nominee for secretary of labor

Kayleigh McEnany: For Trump supporters, the press conference was a victorious display of confidence

Kayleigh McEnany is a CNN commentator and a graduate of Harvard Law School. She studied politics at Oxford University. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely hers.

(CNN) While the establishment politicians and the left scoff at President Trump's Thursday press conference, Trump voters celebrate a victorious display of confidence. After a week of rampant speculation about selective leaks from the intelligence community, Trump boldly took to the East Room podium to address a room full of inquisitive journalists.

Undeterred by critical reporting, Trump did not cower behind a press secretary with carefully crafted words, as most politicians would do. Instead, he himself spoke directly to the American people, breaking through the interpretive lens of the media.

Kayleigh McEnany

Trump voters deemed his press conference a success for several reasons: He directed the conversation back to the issues; he showed his undeterred fortitude in tackling the tough questions; and he corrected the record.

According to the latest CNN poll , 90% of Republicans approve of the way Trump has handled the presidency thus far. Often left out of the media narrative are the reasons why Republicans feel this way. GOP voters look to the President and see a litany of accomplishments: a soaring stock market, withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, elimination of job-killing regulations, expedited permit approval, a hiring freeze on nonessential federal workers and a task force for reducing violent crime, among others. All this in just three weeks.

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These accomplishments, however, rarely garner media attention, except for Thursday when Trump listed them before a captive media audience, saying "I'm making this presentation directly to the American people with the media present. ..."

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