{"id":10281,"date":"2026-07-13T00:21:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/trump-tells-tapper-hes-trying-to-get-cnn-back-on-track\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T00:21:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:21:37","slug":"trump-tells-tapper-hes-trying-to-get-cnn-back-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/trump-tells-tapper-hes-trying-to-get-cnn-back-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Tells Tapper He&#8217;s Trying to Get CNN Back on Track"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The exchange took place at the conclusion of a telephone interview on State of the Union, during which Trump called in to honor the late Senator Lindsey Graham, a longstanding political ally and personal friend, as Adisa Hargett-Robinson reports in <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Following a discussion focused entirely on Graham&#8217;s life and contributions, <strong>Tapper<\/strong> attempted to pivot to questions about ongoing military operations in Iran. Trump declined, stating he would not address other policy matters out of respect for the late senator.<\/p>\n<p><em>Out of respect for Lindsey, I&#8217;m not talking about that,<\/em> Trump said when pressed on United States military action and escalating tensions in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>The president instead chose to reflect on Graham&#8217;s extensive political legacy, describing him as a <em>fantastic advocate<\/em> during his Senate tenure. Trump recalled that the South Carolina Republican had telephoned him the evening before his death, following a return from Ukraine.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-10281 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26158717850080-300x200.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-10277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26158717850080-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26158717850080-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26158717850080.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-10277'>\n\t\t\t\tPhoto: washingtonexaminer.com\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Prince-Harry-scaled-e1783714058856-300x200.webp\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-10278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Prince-Harry-scaled-e1783714058856-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Prince-Harry-scaled-e1783714058856-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Prince-Harry-scaled-e1783714058856.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-10278'>\n\t\t\t\tPhoto: washingtonexaminer.com\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26185000420360-300x200.webp\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-10279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26185000420360-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26185000420360-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26185000420360.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-10279'>\n\t\t\t\tPhoto: washingtonexaminer.com\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>As the interview drew to a close, Tapper extended an invitation for a future appearance. <em>I know you don&#8217;t want to talk about any other issues out of respect for Lindsey Graham, but we would love to have you back sometime because I do have a lot of other questions for you, sir,<\/em> the CNN anchor said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump agreed to return, then added his characteristically pointed commentary on the network itself. <em>We&#8217;re trying to have CNN go on a normal path,<\/em> he remarked.<\/p>\n<p>Tapper responded quickly, asserting he was already on such a path. Trump acknowledged the response with approval.<\/p>\n<h2>Trump Highlights Graham&#8217;s Kavanaugh Defense<\/h2>\n<p>During the tribute, Trump singled out Graham&#8217;s forceful defense of then-Supreme Court nominee <strong>Brett Kavanaugh<\/strong> during the contentious 2018 confirmation hearings. He called the senator&#8217;s impassioned remarks one of the defining moments of his career, ranking it among the most significant episodes in Senate history.<\/p>\n<p><em>I think it was a top 10, maybe a top five moment in the history of the Senate,<\/em> Trump said.<\/p>\n<h2>Rare CNN Appearance<\/h2>\n<p>The interview represented one of Trump&#8217;s infrequent engagements with CNN, a network he has routinely criticized throughout his time in public office. The president has long accused the outlet of bias and unfair coverage, making Sunday&#8217;s call-in segment notable both for its cordial tone and its subject matter.<\/p>\n<p>Trump also indicated he has already identified a successor to fill Graham&#8217;s Senate seat, though he did not provide further details during the interview.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em>With information from <a href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Washington Examiner<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump used a CNN interview honoring the late Senator Lindsey Graham to tell host Jake Tapper he was working to steer the network toward a more balanced editorial direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":10280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[2880,196,96,9077,3515,9078,209],"nfg_topic":[135],"class_list":["post-10281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-cnn","tag-donald-trump","tag-iran","tag-jake-tapper","tag-lindsey-graham","tag-state-of-the-union","tag-united-states","nfg_topic-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10281"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=10281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}