The Wall Street Journal has reported that the White House is considering having a team of lawyers approve Donald Trump’s tweets before they go out. But who would stop Trump’s itchy fingers before dawn when he usually taps out his nastiest tweets?
That was the topic on a CNN panel Friday as journalists wondered who would be brave enough to bird dog Trump at 2 a.m. — or confiscate his phone.
“My question is, is one of those lawyers going to take up residence in the White House?” asked CNN political correspondent Dana Bash. “Because that is the biggest issue for the White House staff when they’re tearing their hair out looking at these tweets [written] in the off hours when he gets himself worked up into a frenzy.”
Yahoo anchor Brianna Golodryga added: “I don’t seen the president handing over his phone ... are these lawyers coming in at 2 in the morning to do phone duty?”
The Journal reported Friday that advisers are weighing new strategies to deal with the pounding onslaught of bad news for the president as damaging information mounts in the ongoing investigations into Russian connections to the Trump campaign team. One strategy would have lawyers vet Trump’s tweets so they “don’t go from the president’s mind out to the universe,” and create more trouble for him and his aides, a source told the newspaper.
But timing would be an issue. Could the president let a tweet sit until lawyers could see it — or would he turn his phone over to someone until working hours? A former campaign aide said neither is likely.