Trump Extends Rare Olive Branch to the Media: ‘The Press Has Been Relatively Fair to Me Over the Last Year… Bad, But Not Horrible’

Either hell is freezing over or President Donald Trump is in a pretty good mood. Why? Because the president gave the mainstream media a rare compliment — by his standards, at least — during the National Governors Association dinner at the White House on Saturday night.

“Now we’re with some very special reporters tonight — I often say the fake news, but I will not say that tonight. Even though I’m on live television, I will not call you fake news!” Trump said during his introductory speech.

Trump added a moment later, “I said to myself the press has been relatively fair to me over the last year, meaning they’ve been bad, but not horrible.” That drew a few chuckles from the crowd.

The president explained the night was going to be capped off with “incredible entertainment,” including a performance from the “greatest violinist in the world” Rusanda Panfili.

He then said he was going to have the assembled governors vote by voicing whether or not they wanted the press to be allowed back later to watch the performances.

“I’m in favor,” Trump said while raising his right hand. A few others cheered, which was just enough for Trump to say the media members could return.

His comments stand out, considering anyone who has followed politics for the last 11 years knows Trump is not a big fan of the press.

To point to a few examples, he is currently suing the Wall Street Journal over a story claiming he sent Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” birthday letter in 2003, and he is also suing the BBC for $10 billion for “doctoring” footage to make it appear like he was urging supporters to “fight” before the January 6 Capitol Riot.

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell,” Trump was heard saying on the BBC program Panorama, which aired in October 2024.

In reality, he said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”

More recently, Trump voiced his support for Nexstar and Tegna merging earlier this month, saying “We need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks.”

Watch above via C-SPAN.

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