For reporters, it's hardly unusual to call sources on the phone to learn details or get quotes that will enliven their stories. Sometimes people will talk, sometimes they won't.
But the president of the United States?
In an almost unfathomable level of access, reporters who call President Donald Trump on his personal cell phone often get an answer - and an interview - from the leader of the free world on the spot. There's evidence that this is happening more frequently.
Paradoxically, it's the same president who popularized the term "fake news" and has battled against the press for years on multiple fronts. Just this week, Trump's lawyers threatened to sue CNN and The New York Times over their reporting on an initial government assessment of damage caused by bombing Iran's nuclear facilities.
On the day of the June 21 bombing, Trump gave phone interviews to Jonathan Karl of ABC News, Kristen Welker at NBC News, Reuters' Steve Holland, Axios' Barak Ravid and both Bret Baier and Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel, according to an independent database of the president's media appearances.