Trump Caught On Hot Mic Telling Fox Host To Praise Cabinet Meeting As Press Files Out: ‘Say It Was Unbelievable!’
A hot mic caught President Donald Trump telling a Fox News host to praise his first cabinet meeting as the press filed out — a moment that was cut off in the official White House feed.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday that Trump would be seizing control of the rotation and deciding which outlets cover the president’s movements — an obligation historically reserved for the White House Correspondents Association.
The move drew widespread condemnation, including from Fox News Senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich — on X/Twitter.
That bombshell created opportunities for right-leaning personalities almost immediately, as people like Real America’s Voice Chief White House Correspondent Brian Glenn and Newsmax White House correspondent James Rosen were added to the press pool for events following the announcement.
Such was the case Wednesday afternoon as Trump held the first cabinet meeting of his second term. While DOGE czar Elon Musk grabbed headlines by kicking off the meeting and dominating the other members, right-leaning media also dominated the event.
Rosen received, by far, the most time of any reporter in the room but Lawrence Jones of Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends also got in some lengthy questions.
Jones asked Trump about immigration activists sharing the personal information of law enforcement personnel, and appeared to give Trump what he thought was a “great idea”:
LAWRENCE JONES: Mr. President Afghanistan and the botched withdrawal. Have all the generals or command staff that were involved with the withdrawal being fired or relieved of duty?
TRUMP: Well, that’s a great idea. I’m not going to tell this man what to do, but I will say that if I had his place, I’d fire every single one of them.
At the end of the cabinet meeting, which lasted just over an hour, Trump singled Jones out for some banter that didn’t make the White House feed but did show up on the longer-running live stream hosted by The Associated Press:
AIDE: Thank you press!
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Lawrence! Look at Lawrence! This guy’s making a fortune! He never had it so good!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Lawrence, say we did a great job, please. Okay? Say it was unbelievable!
Watch above via The Associated Press.
