— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) February 26, 2017
What a great story.
IJR’s Benny Johnson was the only reporter on hand when President Tump, Nigel Farage and Secretary of State Tillerson visited BLT Steak inside of Trump’s hotel in D.C., but he wasn’t there by accident — he booked a table acting on a tip from a trusted source:
So @bennyjohnson was tipped off Trump would have dinner at his hotel, while pool rptr was kept in dark https://t.co/3iHxIYHBuq
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) February 26, 2017
In other words, Johnson practiced journalism while the rest of the White House Press Corps waited for the administration to spoon-feed them the story. From Jordan Fabia who was the pool-reporter on duty Saturday night:
.@realDonaldTrump's motorcade just left the White House grounds. Destination unknown. No public events on his schedule today.
— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) February 26, 2017
Pool has arrived at the Trump International Hotel, where POTUS will be eating dinner. With who? The WH hasn't said.
— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) February 26, 2017
Hey, don’t blame Johnson:
PSA: How Trump treats pool is not under my control.
Did my job as a reporter, had good sources, reported what happened factually & fairly. https://t.co/akp09ScBcP— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2017
@bennyjohnson didn’t mean anything negatively about you, you did what any reporter would do.
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) February 26, 2017
@Hadas_Gold I did not take it that way at all. Thanks for reading & clarifying for anyone on twitter tho
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2017
Hunter Walker of Yahoo News accused the Trump administration of planting Johnson in the restaurant for good coverage:
Trump didn't "discretely" tip "one of the latino busboys" he did it in front of a reporter his team put there https://t.co/daZAfojlNl
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) February 26, 2017
And last night, Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis wrote:
The White House press pool isn't being allowed into Trump's hotel, which is leased to DJT by the federal government.
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) February 26, 2017
Johnson’s response:
Those who can't get their own scoops hate on mine.
Pretty sad. But plenty of tin foil still out there to make hats with! https://t.co/7lL1hIZoMC
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2017
From Johnson’s write-up:
Inside the restaurant, I was seated at a table I had booked hours earlier next to where Trump would be dining, based on a tip from a trusted source. I was ready to tell the story no one else would get to see and was personally fascinated to observe how a restaurant prepares for a president — and how Trump interacts when he believes no press are present.
Update: Politico’s Marc Caputo came to Johnson’s defense after we published our post:
One of the worst things we can do as a noninstitution-institution is to hate on legit scoops.
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) February 27, 2017
Yes. It's true that Trump's treatment of pool/press is BS. But that's not @bennyjohnson's doing. He got a scoop & did his job.
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) February 27, 2017
Johnson even ended up getting to ask President Trump a question on the White House Correspondent’s Dinner:
I asked Trump if he would be attending the White House Correspondents Dinner.
He said: "No. Do you like that?"
People cheered behind me. pic.twitter.com/5uc6kAM0FI— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2017
More photos from the dinner:
At Trump hotel. Secret Service swarms the place. Trump walks in, sits down next to me w/ Gov. Rick Scott, Nigel Farage, Ivanka & Kuchner pic.twitter.com/5ZgTUixvwR
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2017
Two things:
1. Farage was not invited to this dinner. Squeezed in at last second
2. Sec. State Tillerson is dining w/wife alone across room— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2017
