At a meeting with the president. Photo: Al Drago - Pool/Getty Images

“Kirstjen Nielsen, Chief of Homeland Security, Almost Resigned After Trump Tirade,” reported a headline in yesterday’s New York Times. According to the story, which broke the news of the harangue, Trump’s abuse of his Homeland Security director “was part of a lengthy tirade in which the president railed at his cabinet about what he said was its lack of progress toward sealing the country’s borders against illegal immigrants.”

Today’s Washington Post, however, reports that Nielsen did not threaten to resign. The Post’s account, headlined “Trump unloads on Homeland Security secretary in lengthy immigration tirade,” adds the details that “Trump’s tirade went on so long that many present began fidgeting in their seats and flashing grimaces,” and that it lasted more than 30 minutes.

That certainly is an extremely long tirade. Adolf Hitler’s in Downfall lasts fewer than three minutes. Imagine sitting through a tirade lasting more than ten times as long.

Also, does anybody else miss the days when White House reporters could go years at a time without having to use the word tirade to describe Cabinet meetings?