{"id":99,"date":"2026-03-03T10:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/99\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T10:33:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:33:19","slug":"trumps-approach-to-communicating-war-was-unconventional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/99\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s approach to communicating war was unconventional"},"content":{"rendered":"

Typical of an unconventional presidency, the Trump administration waited more than 48 hours to make any live, public communication to the American people<\/a> about why it had decided to go to war with Iran.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump discussed why he launched the attack<\/a> prior to a White House ceremony honoring military heroes on Monday but took no questions from reporters. Earlier in the day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine briefed journalists at the Pentagon.<\/p>\n

The two days previous, Trump delivered two pretaped statements that were released on Truth Social, the social media site owned by the president\u2019s media company, and granted telephone interviews to more than a dozen journalists \u2014 several of which produced fragmented responses that, to some, clouded as much as they cleared up. <\/p>\n

The communications strategy opened Trump to criticism that he hadn\u2019t done enough to explain the rationale and objectives of the war, even as the American military suffered its first casualties<\/a>. By contrast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has teamed with the U.S. against Iran, delivered two statements the day the war began and addressed reporters Monday at the site of a missile attack that killed nine people. The Israeli military has held multiple press briefings each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American people need a commander in chief, and he has been absent in that role,\u201d Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama, said on CNN Monday. Emanuel, a Democrat, is contemplating a run for the presidency in 2028. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump arrives for a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump arrives for a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

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An unconventional strategy leads to criticism<\/p>\n

Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, wrote on social media that \u201cafter Trump launched a new war on Iran, he did not rush back to the White House to make an Oval Office address to rally the nation as other presidents have done. He stayed at Mar-a-Lago to attend a glitzy political fundraiser.\u201d<\/p>\n

That post provoked a response from Steven Cheung, White House communications director. \u201cImagine being a reporter so consumed with Trump Derangement Syndrome that he wants President Trump to mimic the failed policies of the past. The truth is that President Trump spent the majority of his time monitoring the situation in a secure facility, in constant contact with world leaders, and made multiple addresses to the nation that garnered hundreds of millions of views. He also took dozens of calls with reporters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The calls included one with Baker\u2019s colleague at The Times, Zolan Kanno-Youngs. Trump\u2019s mobile phone number is known to many of the reporters who cover him, and the president often takes their calls<\/a> for on-the-spot interviews. Besides The Times, he spoke in the aftermath of the attack to journalists for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Axios, Politico and an Israeli television station.<\/p>\n

Most of the calls were brief and marginally illuminating; Politico\u2019s Dasha Burns said Trump answered but said he was too busy to talk. The public couldn\u2019t hear what Trump said in the interviews and was dependent upon what the journalists chose to report on the conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke to President Trump today and he told me that the operation in Iran is going to go very fast,\u201d Libby Alon, a reporter for Channel 14 News in Israel, wrote about her interview on X. \u201cIt\u2019s doing very well, and (will) make the people of Israel very happy, and the people of the world very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Times reported that in its six-minute chat, Trump \u201coffered several seemingly contradictory visions of how power might be transferred to a new government \u2014 or even whether the existing Iranian power structure would run that government or be overthrown.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one of his two conversations with Trump, ABC News\u2019 Jonathan Karl said when he asked about the death of Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the president said: \u201cI got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well I got him first.\u201d CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper went on the air minutes after his conversation Monday, saying Trump told him \u201cthe big one is coming soon,\u201d an apparent reference to a future attack.<\/p>\n

Asked for comment, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said: \u201cPresident Trump is the most transparent and accessible president in American history. The American people have never had a more direct and authentic relationship with a president of the United States than they have with President Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Defense<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine speak during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine speak during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n

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Hegseth briefing concentrates on friendly reporters<\/p>\n

Pentagon reporters learned late Sunday about Hegseth\u2019s briefing. Reporters from The Associated Press, Reuters, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and Stars & Stripes were permitted into the briefing room, but Hegseth did not call on them. Instead, he took questions from NewsNation and Trump-friendly outlets like the Daily Caller, Daily Wire, One America News and the Christian Broadcasting Network. Most mainstream news outlets left their regular stations at the Pentagon last fall rather than agree<\/a> to Hegseth\u2019s rules restricting their work.<\/p>\n

Hegseth denounced the \u201cfoolishness\u201d of people wanting to know details of the operation in advance, such as whether Americans would commit to more than air power, and said the operation would continue as long as it took to achieve objections. He initially ignored NBC News\u2019 Courtney Kube when she called out a question: \u201cPresident Trump put a four-week time limit on it. Are you saying he\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, Hegseth denounced Kube for asking \u201cthe typical NBC sort of gotcha-type question. President Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it might take \u2014 four weeks, two weeks, six weeks, it could move up, it could move back. We\u2019re going to execute at his command the objectives he set out to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Pentagon briefings in past administrations, reporters were given assigned seats, with the Trump-friendly outlets seated in front. Jennifer Griffin, Hegseth\u2019s former colleague at Fox News Channel who left the Pentagon with other reporters after not accepting his new rules, was seated in the last row.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http:\/\/x.com\/dbauder<\/a> and https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/dbauder.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n