Trump's Love Of Fox News Is Reportedly Behind A Controversial Change To His Routine

First Donald Trump's behavior during intelligence briefings made headlines, and now reporting on some radical changes the briefings might undergo is raising eyebrows. On May 9, Politico reported that Trump had only received 12 President's Daily Briefs since being in office. These PDBs contain information gathered from the intelligence community covering various topics, including highly classified covert operations overseas. Only taking in 12 PDBs was a decline from when Joe Biden was in office, as he took in two to three a week, and it was even far less than Trump consumed during his first term. Weeks later, it was reported that the administration was considering overhauling these documents to make them more easily digestible for POTUS.

According to five sources who spoke to NBC News for an exclusive published May 31, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard was considering changing the briefings from a mostly text document to recorded segments that would be similar to a Fox News broadcast. This could even involve hiring producers and personalities from Fox News to contribute to the PDBs so Trump could take them in at his own convenience. "The problem with Trump is that he doesn't read. He's on broadcast all the time," a source with close knowledge of the situation told the outlet.

Meanwhile, members of Trump's administration staunchly refuted claims about the Fox News-ification of the PDBs. "In true fake news fashion, NBC is publishing yet another anonymously sourced false story," NI Press Secretary Olivia Coleman said in a statement to NBC News. While the possible change in the briefings to mirror a Fox News broadcast hasn't yet taken effect, the influence of the network on Trump's team is already very clear.

Multiple members of Donald Trump's administration for his second term in office have been affiliated with Fox News — including Tulsi Gabbard, who is in charge of ensuring he receives the President's Daily Briefs. He also appointed former Fox News personality Sean Duffy as the transportation secretary. It has been a two-way street for the administration and the right-wing cable network, as the president's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, has her own show on Fox News. In addition to his own family members, POTUS has also shown love to Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt, who got engaged in January. That led to Donald gushing over them, calling it "a deal made in HEAVEN!!!" on Truth Social.

Previously, there had been some tension between Donald and Fox News honcho Rupert Murdoch, but the two seemingly buried the hatchet during Donald's third presidential campaign. The network hosted a town hall for him during the Republican primaries in January 2024, and it was a highly rated event that benefited both Fox and Donald. "It's a f***ing disaster for Rupert if Trump wins and Fox is not on side," an unnamed media boss told the Financial Review at the time. Around that time, James Uthmeier — the campaign manager for Ron DeSantis, who was running against Donald — felt the network was being biased towards the former president. "Fox has turned into full blown Trump TV, honesty thrown to the wind," Uthmeier wrote on X in January 2024.

Well into his presidency, the mutual love between Donald and Fox News does not appear to be waning.