The phrase “alternative facts,” the unofficial motto of the Trump administration, has almost come to seem quaint in the 18 months since it was coined by Kellyanne Conway in an ill-fated attempt to bolster Donald Trump’s claim to the largest inauguration crowd in history. Since January, the White House has appeared to be conducting a longitudinal study on just how far it can stretch this concept—how thoroughly it can obliterate the objective version of the truth, and replace it with something a little more flattering. Trump himself has taken the lead in this effort, labeling the “fake news media” to be the “enemy of the state” and instructing his supporters not to trust any negative stories about his administration. At an event for veterans on Tuesday, he offered an alarmingly Orwellian distillation of this political philosophy: “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”

While Trump’s outbursts work to sway public trust in the media, the White House has also sharpened its efforts to promote its alternative facts. Whereas before Sean Spicer was forced to hide in the bushes, his successor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has found it easier to skip press briefings entirely, or cut them short. The West Wing now has begun eliminating words from official transcripts, and recently banned a reporter from Trump’s Rose Garden briefing for asking “inappropriate” questions. On Thursday morning, the war on reality reached a new extreme when the White House press team, facing a horde of reporters full of questions about a recording of Trump discussing hush-money payments with his onetime fixer, Michael Cohen, abruptly told the press that Trump would not be able to take questions as he crossed the South Lawn to his helicopter.

It is a White House tradition that the president engages with the press on his way to Marine One—one that Trump, despite his clashes with the media, is usually happy to oblige. On this day, however, Trump’s aides were at pains to keep him away from reporters. And so, as NBC News’s Hallie Hackson reports, the White House made a “bad weather” call and announced that the president would have to take a car to Joint Base Andrews. The weather, of course, was perfectly clear:

When the pool reporter inquired as to why the president’s plans had changed, given the idyllic weather, they were told, “there is fog.”

According to NBC Washington’s Storm Team 4, D.C. is experiencing a “break” of dry weather after several days of storms, and “Thursday will be mostly dry, with sunshine and temperatures in the upper 80s.” In theory, this is perfect weather for flying, not to mention an ideal clime in which to stand outside on a lawn and answer simple questions such as, What is your response to Cohen releasing said tapes?