US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his determination to tighten the country's immigration procedures despite the legal reverses his travel ban has suffered at the hands of the nation's courts.
President Trump was speaking after meeting the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House.
It was their first face-to-face meeting since the US Election.
And as our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports, the President introduced a new degree of news management during the press conference that followed their talks.
IN: "Something very….."
OUT: SOC
DUR: 3:54
AIR: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-air.mp3
ARN: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-arn.mp3
938 LIVE: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-938.mp3
FM4: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-fm4.mp3
ICRT: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-icrt.mp3
NIGERIA: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-von.mp3
RNZ: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-rnz.mp3
VATICAN: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-vat.mp3
ZIZ: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-ziz.mp3
GENERIC: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0213press-sm-generic.mp3
Something very strange happened at the White House on Monday….and it took place during circumstances that on the face of it looked very familiar.
The President of the United States held a meeting with the leader of another country - in this case, Justin Trudeau the Prime Minister of Canada.
The two leaders held a joint news conference….and extolled the virtues of their nascent relationship.
AXX
So far, so predictable.
But then the floor was opened to reporters in the room.
The Americans at least were salivating at the chance to throw some curveballs at President Trump.
Does he still stand by his beleaguered National Security Adviser Michael Flynn who is known to have lied about the nature of his pre-inauguration conversations with the Russians?
Does the President have any regrets about the way he responded to North Korea'a nuclear test over the weekend, when he had national security conversations with the Japan's Prime Minister in full view of all the other diners at his very much unsecured Mar-A-Lago resort?
Was it prudent for one of the diners to take a selfie with the Marine who carries America's nuclear football?
Reasonable questions that under normal circumstances a President would have been prepped to answer.
Not this President, not this press conference.
AXX
That first question went to a reporter from one of Washington's local TV stations which is owned by a conservative-leaning media group.
And if you think that softball….wait for the second and final question selected by the President.
It was posed by a reporter from the conservative leaning website
"The Daily Caller".
AXX
She read that from a prepared script.
It was jaw-dropping….not a single major news agency, newspaper, broadcast network or website was given the opportunity to question the President about truly pressing issues making national headlines.
And this is a substantive change in the way the press is being treated by the President they cover.
Previously, successive US Presidents have always understood that part of the glory of America's democracy is the give-and-take at a Presidential news conference…..accountability in action.
No two men demonstrated that better than President Ronald Reagan and Sam Donaldson, White House correspondent with ABC.
AXX
That exchange took place in November 1986…just as Ronald Reagan was mired in the Iran-Contra scandal.
Today, it appears that it could no longer happen.
The fundamental compact between the President and reporters has been smashed by a White House intent on rewarding politically loyal publications and marginalizing everybody else.
Less than a month into the Trump administration, one of the basic hallmarks of America's free press - the right to ask questions - is being tarnished by the day.
Which is shame….because as ABC's Sam Donaldson once put it: "There's no such thing as a bad question. It's the only the answers that hurt".
SOC