Unlike his recent predecessors, President-elect Donald Trump has largely avoided answering questions about his key and often controversial appointments or clarifying his priorities following the election. Trump transition officials have provided no details about when he will hold a general news conference. While Trump has had two limited exchanges with the press—one-on-one interviews with NBC and the New York Post—there has been no formal briefing to address the public. Trump spokesman Steve Cheung defended the approach, stating that Trump, who was highly accessible to the press during his campaign, would continue to engage with reporters regularly and provide timely responses to inquiries.
This approach contrasts with past presidents-elect, who typically held press conferences soon after their victories. For example, Bill Clinton held his first formal news conference eight days after the 1992 election, announcing early appointments. Similarly, Barack Obama spoke to the media three days after his 2008 election, while Joe Biden held his first press conference a week after the 2020 election.
In contrast, Trump waited six weeks after his 2016 victory to address the media formally, and since his recent victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, all of his personnel announcements have been delivered through prepared statements.
Political analyst Chris Cillizza noted that providing written statements is not the same as taking questions in a press conference, pointing out that the Trump transition team has not held regular briefings about appointments or new administration policies.
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