President Donald Trump said during a call-in interview he will appear on Fox News each Monday on a weekly basis – although TV co-hosts cau...
President Donald Trump said during a call-in interview he will appear on Fox News each Monday on a weekly basis – although TV co-hosts cautioned during a live interview that it is only on a 'case-by-case basis.
Trump gushed about his new weekly gig on the network during a 47-minute call-in interview, where he was able to talk at length while firing his typical blasts at rival Joe Biden and predecessor Barack Obama.
'Great to be with my friends. I think we're going to do this, we've agreed to do it once a week in the morning, and I look forward to it like the old days,' Trump said on 'Fox and Friends.' He may have been referencing a weekly gig, also on Mondays, that he scored back in 2011, back when he was contemplating a run for president.
President Donald Trump called in to 'Fox & Friends' Tuesday and said he had agreed to do a once a week appearance
He also called into the program repeatedly during his 2016 campaign.
But Trump's statement prompted an immediate response from cohost Steve Doocy. 'I haven't heard that. Well that's an exclusive right there!' he proclaimed.
Trump heaped praise on the program at the top of the interview, while laying out the terms of what he described as an agreement.
'You have great people working for you, you don't even have to get involved, you have the best people,' before adding, 'We've agreed to do it probably mostly on Monday, we're going to do it mostly on Monday, and if we have to, Tuesday. Like yesterday we were out in a different part of the world.'
Megyn Kelly (R) and Donald Trump (L) during the FOX special 'MEGYN KELLY presents' airing Tuesday, May 17 (8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Trump used call-ins to Fox, CNN and MSNBC to his advantage in the 2016 campaign
Co-host Steve Doocy cautioned: ''You may want to do it every week, but Fox is not committed to that we'll take it on a case-by-case basis, and Joe Biden as well'
'We're going to do it every week,' said co-host Brian Kilmeade
Trump used his call-ins in 2015 and 2016 to bash his Republican rivals on his path to the nomination
Co-host Brian Kilmeade seemed to agree with Trump's statement, saying at one point: 'We're going to do it every week.'
'We're going to do it every week,' said co-host Brian Kilmeade.
Another co-host, Ainsley Earhardt, described the arrangement as 'we're goign to see how that goes' and said the network has invited Trump rival Joe Biden on the show as well.
Doocy said the Biden camp hadn't called back.
Trump showed some flexibility on the dates, but left no doubt about his commitment. 'I look forward to it, yeah we're doing it every Monday I think and if we can't do it on a Monday we'll do it on a Tuesday like we did today
Doocy cautioned at the end of the broadcast: 'You may want to do it every week, but Fox is not committed to that we'll take it on a case-by-case basis, and Joe Biden as well, is always welcome to join us for 47 minutes like we just did with the president. All right Donald Trump, president of the United States.'
A FOX News spokesperson confirmed Doocey's statement that no agreement was made.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for information about the nature of the arrangement and whether there was a deal.
Trump has long-favored the call-in format provided by morning news shows, which he used to his benefit during the 2016 campaign, getting out his unfiltered message without having to pay for TV ads.
He reached an agreement with the network back in 2011 when he was contemplating a run for president.
The slot was called 'Monday Mornings with Trump.'
'Bold, brash and never bashful, the Donald now makes his voice loud and clear every Monday on Fox,' said an announcer plugging the appearances at the time, with Trump saying: 'my message is a better message than anybody else's.'
Trump used his appearance to once again level unsubstantiated allegations about his rival's drug use.
“I think he should take a drug test,' Trump said, when prompted to repeat his past accusation against Biden. 'I would take one, too, yeah,' Trump said.
'You look at Biden he’s reading notes and he’s reading teleprompters all the time and he doesn’t read them well,' Trump said. 'And during interviews, he’s doing an interview and he’s reading the credits. I saw two to three weeks ago, I said, "I think he’s reading a teleprompter."'
Trump leveled a similar accusation on Twitter Monday, citing conspiracy theories about a Biden appearance on the 'Late Late Show' in April. But the show's executive producer has said a reflection that appeared on some glass during the interview was actually the lead-in teleprompter language for host James Corden.
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