I’ve been covering President Trump for 15 months now. I thought I had him figured out.
Trump is the most dynamic leader in the world — there is always something happening. But I’ve gotten used to it. When you cover a single subject everyday for a long period of time, you develop a feel for that person.
I have a feel for his rhythms, his deflections and how he’ll answer a question before the words are out of your mouth.
I’ve stopped being surprised.
Until Tuesday.
When the president departs on Marine One from the South Lawn, it is called an “open press event.” There is no room capacity and no credentialed list. Anyone from the press corps can attend. And it often feels like every single person does.
Journalists line up an hour early, sometimes more, jostling for position in the heat and rain and snow, hoping the president spots their face and stops. Trump almost always takes questions before a major trip. And if he does, he works the whole line, 30, sometimes 40 minutes of rapid-fire exchanges before boarding.
On Tuesday he was departing for China, which meant the rest of us would have a slow week. I decided to gamble and show up.
I didn’t get to the White House early enough to get the best spot on the South Lawn on Tuesday. I didn’t even get there early enough to be in the middle of the pack. Nope, I was all the way at the end. To reach me, the president would need to work through 100 journalists.
But I knew if the president spotted me he would call on me. There is a level of familiarity between me and the president. I interviewed him for over an hour in August. I’m in front of him almost weekly asking questions.
Last time I was in the Oval Office, he gave me a wink and mouthed “hello” before starting to take questions.
The president has this relationship with a handful of journalists. The faces he recognizes from the campaign trail, interviews or even knows from his Trump Tower days.
After standing on the lawn for 20 minutes with my colleagues pressed shoulder to shoulder, trying to maintain as prime of a position as I could get, the president appeared out of the Oval Office.
As he walked down the sidewalk stretching from the Oval Office to the White House drive, he waved at the press. Then he started walking towards us.
And sure enough, he worked the entire line.
The journalists next to me started screaming. One lady stuck her hand in my face, almost blocking my view of the president. But Trump cut through the chaos and pointed at me.