President Donald Trump held an extraordinary news conference from the White House in November, which resulted in a dramatic scene of scolding and insults. | AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta White House Trump says he told Sarah Sanders 'not to bother' with press briefings

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he told White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders "not to bother" with press briefings anymore, and tried to blame the media for the increasingly rare events.

"The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the 'podium' much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press. I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!" Trump tweeted.


Under the Trump administration, formal press briefings have become a rare occurrence, and are often marked with contentious exchanges and fewer questions. Following one short briefing in December, Breakfast Media's Andrew Feinberg called out at Sanders to "do your job!"

Sanders and Trump have instead opted for less formal Q&A's from different areas of the White House or while boarding Marine One, the president's helicopter. And even during those exchanges, Trump has often expressed hostility to questions from the media.

Trump held a extraordinary news conference from the White House in November, which resulted in a dramatic scene of scolding and insults. The president grew visibly irritated with CNN's Jim Acosta over his questions concerning special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the 2016 election and lambasted the White House correspondent after he talked over Trump to ask his question.

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"You are a very rude person," Trump told Acosta at the time. "The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible, and the way you treat other people is horrible. You shouldn't treat people that way."

Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, decried the growing infrequency of press briefings in a statement Tuesday, warning that the trend could set a dangerous precedent.

"While other avenues exist to obtain information, the robust, public back-and-forth we’ve come to expect in the James A. Brady briefing room helps highlight that no one in a healthy republic is above being questioned,” Knox said.

