Ever since Donald Trump set the tone for his presidency by berating the press for accurately reporting on his paltry inaugural crowd size and attacking the media as the “enemy of the American people,” journalists and commentators have tried to persuade Trump to take two things seriously in his role as president.
First, that the role of the free press is to hold the powerful to account. And second, that Trump's attacks on the news media have dangerous consequences, both at home and around the world.
In a remarkable new exchange, the publisher of The New York Times pressed Trump at length on both these points.