Trump says he has told Sarah Sanders 'not to bother' with daily White House press briefing

The White House press briefings were must-watch television during the early days of the Trump administration. Now they come about once a month

Donald Trump has revealed he has told his press secretary Sarah Sanders "not to bother" with the traditional White House daily press briefing.

The US president posted on Twitter on Tuesday, suggesting that the press is unfair to his combative press secretary.

"The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the 'podium' much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press," Mr Trump wrote.

He continued: "I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!"

The president has chosen the press as an adversary perhaps more than any other president in modern American history, and his claims that his administration receives unfair treatment is not new.

Soon after his election to the presidency, Mr Trump shouted at reporters in Trump Tower, calling them "fake news" for their coverage of him and his campaign. He has continued that combative relationship since, and frequently calls the press the "enemy of the people" in spite of growing concern and criticism that his rhetoric could put journalists' lives in danger.

Mr Trump himself has not had an official press conference in over two years, according to a tally compiled by The Washington Post. Instead, the president regularly interracts with press gaggles as he goes about his business, stopping before boarding flights to leave te White House, for instance.

But the administration's relationship with the press — and the press briefings that have traditionally been daily affairs — as a whole has been something of a different story.

During the early days of the administration, Mr Trump's first press secretary, Sean Spicer, made the briefings into must-watch television as he frequently sparred with the press and asserted claims that many in the briefing found preposterous.

Since Ms Sanders took over, however, the briefings have become a much less frequent event, even as the administration has taken on reporters like CNN's Jim Acosta individually by revoking press access to the White House. In the last two months of 2018, Ms Sanders held just two press conferences.

And, if Mr Trump's comments are any indication, they may not come back any time soon.

Even so, members of the administration frequently speak with the press as they arrive for work or when outside of the White House in the mornings.