White House press secretary defends lack of daily briefings: Trump ‘is the most accessible president in history’

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Monday defended the lack of daily news briefings, arguing that President Trump “is the most accessible president in history.”

“He’s his own best spokesperson,” Grisham said of the president during an interview on “Fox & Friends.” “And he’s the most accessible president in history as all of the media knows. Just yesterday, he gaggled two or three times with the press.”

{mosads}A White House press secretary has not conducted a formal briefing with reporters since March. Trump, however, regularly conducts “chopper talks” while exiting the White House on his way to board Marine One on the South Lawn. Those gaggles can last anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour.

“To be honest, the briefings have become a lot of theatre,” Grisham said Monday. “And I think that a lot of reporters were doing it to get famous. They’re writing books now. They’re all getting famous off of this presidency, and so I think it’s great what we’re doing now.”

Several White House correspondents, including CNN’s Jim Acosta and National Urban Radio Network’s April Ryan, have written books that primarily focus on their clashes with now-former Trump White House press secretaries Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Spicer also wrote a book published in 2018 documenting his time as press secretary, and Sanders has a book planned for a release in 2020.

Trump in a tweet earlier this year said the briefings were no longer needed, saying “word gets out anyway.”

“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!” he wrote in January to his more than 63 million followers.

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019