President-elect Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that MSNBC “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski met with him privately at his Mar-a-Lago estate in southern Florida, calling the discussion “extremely cordial.”
Trump told Fox News that he met with the MSNBC hosts on Friday morning after Scarborough and Brzezinski had requested to talk with him. The “Morning Joe” anchors told viewers on their show Monday morning the meeting was their first face-to-face discussion with Trump in seven years, saying that they agreed with Trump “to restart communications.”
Trump said the leftist hosts “congratulated me on running a ‘great and flawless campaign, one for the history books,’ which I really believe it was, but it was also a campaign where I worked long and hard — perhaps longer and harder than any presidential candidate in history.”
“We talked about various Cabinet members — both announced and to be announced. As expected, they like some very much, but not all,” Trump added. “The meeting ended in a very positive manner, and we agreed to speak in the future.”
Brzezinski said that Trump appeared “cheerful,” “upbeat,” and “interested in finding common ground with Democrats on some of the most divisive issues.” She added that she and her co-host, who is also her husband, continue to hold “deep concerns” about a second Trump administration but acknowledged that nearly 80 million Americans made their voices heard about the issues that matter most to them and sent Trump back to the White House.
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
Brzezinski and Scarborough were blasted by conservatives on social media who pointed out that the “Morning Joe” hosts routinely boosted the Democrats’ narrative that Trump poses a “threat” to the country. CNN contributor Scott Jennings wrote, “Hitler getting a lot more meeting requests than I would’ve thought.”
Trump told Fox News that he has “an obligation to the American public, and to our country itself, to be open and available to the press,” but warned that “if [he’s] not treated fairly … that will end.”
“The media is very important to the long-term success of the United States of America,” he added.
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The president-elect said many news outlets are reaching out to him and said he is willing to give second and third chances to media voices that have treated him poorly.
“And while many others are calling for meetings, I am not looking for retribution, grandstanding or to destroy people who treated me very unfairly, or even badly beyond comprehension,” Trump said. “I am always looking to give a second and even third chance, but never willing to give a fourth chance — that is where I hold the line.”
