Fans, critics and political pundits alike have been wondering aloud how President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in the White House would differ from the first.
One early difference that may surprise anyone who’s been following Trump’s adversarial relationship with the establishment media?
The 45th and 47th president of the United States appears to be taking a much softer approach to some of those very same adversarial critics this time around — including with noted critics and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-hosts, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
On Monday, all three — Trump, Scarborough and Brzezinski — addressed a weekend meeting where the sides apparently warmed out their historically frosty relationship.
The “Morning Joe” co-hosts described the meeting as warm and a necessary first step in mending fences:
Joe and Mika went to Mar a Lago to talk with Trump over the weekend. First face-to-face meeting in seven years. “We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues and we told him so,” @JoeNBC says. “What we did agree on – was to restart communications,” @morningmika says. pic.twitter.com/lyWZWK4CwX
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 18, 2024
The two did couch the niceties by denying there was any attempt to “normalize” Trump:
Here’s part two of @Morning_Joe‘s prepared remarks about the Trump meeting. “Don’t be mistaken. We are not here to defend or normalize Donald Trump,” @JoeNBC says. “We are here to report on him” and provide insights in “these deeply unsettling times.” pic.twitter.com/DTplzTSKhs
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 18, 2024
While Trump supporters may be surprised at what Scarborough and Brzezinski had to say given recent history, the president-elect actually echoed those sentiments, according to a Monday report from Fox News.
“I received a call from Joe Scarborough requesting a meeting for him and Mika, and I agreed that it would be a good thing if such meeting took place,” Trump said, per Fox.
The president-elect noted that the meeting took place Friday morning at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump was mum on what the sides actually discussed: “Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication.”
He did call the entire thing “extremely cordial.”
In fact, Trump expressed dismay that this apparent mending-of-fences didn’t happen sooner: “In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.”
The president-elect added that he expects to meet with other major media personalities, including “even those that have been extremely hostile.”
Trump seemed open to a warmer relationship with the establishment media at-large, saying he has “an obligation to the American public, and to our country itself, to be open and available to the press.”
Trump even said, that the “media is very important to the long-term success of the United States of America.”
The president-elect did add one stern warning for his newfound embrace of the media: “If not treated fairly, however, that will end.”
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