Donald Trump has rolled his eyes, told a journalist to be “quiet” and bitterly complained about the media “breaking the code”, as he was forced to face questions he didn’t like during a staged photo op.
Trump posed for pictures on Monday with White House summer interns towards the end of their time working for his administration.
He seemed to hope it would provide respite from barrages of questions he has faced over his increasingly embattled position as President.
On the day his son-in-law met with Senate investigators over allegations he colluded with Russia’s government during the election, Trump smiled and stood among the group of interns.“They wanted a picture and that is a good group of talented people and we appreciate it,” he said, hoping he would be left to politely grin for the next few seconds while the snappers took the pictures.
No such luck. After 10 seconds, a reporter asked: “Mr President, should Jeff Sessions resign?”
The interns laughed awkwardly and Trump rolled his eyes. He seemed to hope the question about his attorney general, who is also being investigated over contact with Russia last year, would go away if he ignored.
Trump stared straight ahead, so the reporter continued: “Do you have a message on healthcare?”
Being asked about his failure to replace Barack Obama’s healthcare plan with his own was too much and Trump turned to the journalist and said simply: “Quiet.”
The interns laughed nervously again, though it didn’t seem this was a gesture of support for the president they worked for.
“They’re not supposed to do it,” Trump complained to no one in particular. ”They do it. But they’re not supposed to.”
Trump stretched out his hand to gesture to the journalist, adding: “She’s breaking the code. They don’t care about breaking codes. Thank you all. You’re great.”
The interns then all applauded, seemingly relieved it was over.