Trump Pitched a Radio Show in the Situation Room, But Gave Up Because He Didn’t Want to Compete With Rush Limbaugh: NYT

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President Donald Trump reportedly considered launching a two-hour daily radio show — but abandoned the idea because he didn’t want to go up against Rush Limbaugh.

According to The New York Times, the president, on a Saturday in early March, went to the Situation Room to drop in on a meeting with the coronavirus task force — something he seldom did. In that meeting, he pitched the idea of hosting a radio show in which listeners could call in and speak with him directly about the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump, per the report, didn’t want the calls screened — which would have undoubtedly resulted in more than a few Baba Booey-type pranksters, had the plan materialized. Nor would there have been a co-host. Just the president, and the listeners.

Yet the plan was immediately scrapped because, according to Times reporter Elaina Plott, Trump did not want to compete with Rush Limbaugh in the midday timeslot.

Plott writes:

No one in the room was sure how to respond, two of the officials said. Someone suggested hosting the show in the mornings or on weekends, to steer clear of the conservative radio host’s schedule. But Mr. Trump shook his head, saying he envisioned his show as two hours a day, every day. And were it not for Mr. Limbaugh, and the risk of encroaching on his territory, he reiterated, he would do it.

In February, Trump awarded Limbaugh the Congressional Medal of Honor during the State of the Union address. The syndicated radio host was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year, and while he has missed some shows, he’s largely remained on air in recent weeks.