The dispatches began routinely enough for an out-of-the-ordinary day, with Pool Report No. 2 from Cheryl Bolen, the Bloomberg News White House reporter on pool duty Saturday.
“Pool took vans over to Walter Reed, arriving at 10:31 a.m. We are attempting to learn the logistics of Dr. [Sean] Conley’s update on POTUS’s health, scheduled for 11:00 a.m., and will advise soonest.” The report, sent at 10:33 a.m., was a typical transmission from the email list that provides regular updates each day on the president’s activities and is, at the most basic level, the primary source for the press to communicate what is happening with the commander in chief.
But as the media continued to wait for the president’s medical team outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the next four hours of reports encapsulated the chaos that has been the defining feature of covering the Trump White House — this time on what might be the most consequential moment of his presidency. Continue reading.