White House trying to rethink how to inform the president: TV-style presidential briefings being considered for Trump

There has been no shortage of action during the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term in office. But there is already concern about his tendency to ignore information briefings and some in his team may be considering a strange alternative.

A report from NBC News outlines how Trump’s team are trying to put the information in a form that he is more likely to focus on. It explains that Trump’s director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is looking to transform briefings into a format that reflects his preferences:

“One idea that’s been discussed is possibly creating a video version of the PDB that’s made to look and feel like a Fox News broadcast, four of the people with direct knowledge of the discussions said.”

But the idea goes beyond simply recording a staffer explaining the information so that Trump can view it on his device. Some in the White House have considered going even further to ensure that the finished product closely resembles the President’s favored Fox News segments.

“Under that concept as it has been discussed, the national intelligence director’s office could hire a Fox News producer to produce it and one of the network’s personalities to present it; Trump, an avid Fox News viewer, could then watch the broadcast PDB whenever he wanted."

Throughout his first term in office Trump was followed by allegations that he regularly skipped intelligence briefings. When quizzed on the matter in December 2016 he said: “Well, I get it when I need it. ... I don’t have to be told — you know, I’m, like, a smart person.”

Previously his team made sure to provide reports that included plenty of color and graphics like maps to ensure that he continued reading. Eventually, they realized that simply inserting Trump’s name into the text as frequently as possible made him more likely to pay attention.

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