REPORT: Trump Is Pleased With His Loony New York Times Interview Because It Dominated Today’s News

The Washington Post reports:

When President Trump sat down with a reporter for a wide-ranging, 30-minute interview at his private golf club here Thursday, not a single aide or adviser was present at the table — and not a single aide or adviser knew about it in advance.

As word trickled back to the White House, advisers worked to reach the president, with Trump’s personal aide interrupting at one point to hand him a cellphone with White House communicators director Hope Hicks on the line, who checked in on the interview from afar.

But others were out of the loop even after The Times story posted online Thursday evening. One White House official, when asked about the president’s impromptu interview, was perplexed, wondering aloud, “What interview? Today?” Another frustrated aide called it “embarrassing.”

But the president himself had no such qualms. Trump was enthusiastic about the interview and liked that the New York Times was at his golf course, people briefed on the interview said. The president, they added, enjoyed the coverage afterward and noted that it dominated TV most of Friday.

There’s SO much more at the link.