One could argue that the fewer press conferences Donald Trump holds, the less likely he is to blow up the world. In that case, less is more, since Trump is just ignorant enough to do the world real harm with some reckless off-the-cuff remark.
On the other hand, a lack of press conferences gives reporters no way to hold a president accountable to the American people, and Trump is certainly bringing up the rear when it comes to accountability. After five months in office, he's held just one solo press conference, back in February, writes Hunter Walker of Yahoo News:
Trump’s lone press conference in office compares with three by George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan (as of June 24 in their first years — and Reagan was shot and wounded during that period), seven by Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and 12 by George H.W. Bush.
He's also done 10 joint press conferences with foreign leaders, but they just don't provide the same shot at thorough inquiries and follow ups, explains CBS’s Mark Knoller, who has covered every president since Gerald Ford and famously keeps meticulous stats on the executive branch.
“Trump has had 11 news conferences, of which 10 have been joint news conferences with foreign leaders,” Knoller said. “What that means is usually just one or two questions each side. So, you know, they’re abbreviated in the number of questions he has to face, and he’s only had one full-length solo news conference as president.”
Knoller described solo press conferences as “an invaluable opportunity for the person elected as head of the nation to answer questions.”
Trump has also lagged behind President Obama in shorter Q&As and individual interviews, though not as flagrantly.
As of June 18, Trump had 24 short Q&As, compared with 25 for Obama, and gave 59 interviews to Obama’s 64. By the same date in 2001, George W. Bush had 64 short Q&As and 29 interviews.
But Trump's engagement in both Q&As and one-on-one interviews is steadily dwindling as his term moves along, notes Martha Joynt Kumar, author of multiple books about White House communications and director of the White House Transition Project, a nonpartisan academic group that both tracks and analyzes the White House.
“In Trump’s case, he did a lot of short Q&As in his first 100 days, but he hasn’t been doing them since then,” Kumar explained. “And since he’s been reluctant to do those, he’s cut back his interviews as well.”
In fact, on Friday, Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will deliver a statement after their meeting but likely won’t allow reporters to ask any questions.
In the meantime, the White House press shop has also become less and less responsive to press inquiries, with press briefings now regularly being held off-camera and responses from White House spokespeople routinely coming down to "I don't know" or "I haven't spoken with the president” about that.
What this all boils down to is a clear slide toward one-way communication from the White House instead of a conversation between reporters and administration officials that can actually help inform both sides.
Increasingly, the White House is simply talking at the public instead of with the public, as it cuts out reporters who ultimately serve as surrogates for the American people.