Thread by @AndrewFeinberg

Per @hogangidley45 @realDonaldTrump “will be making a major statement tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock from the White House.”

Whatever this is (rumor is we got al-Baghdadi), the fact that he’s waiting until 9am tomorrow instead of announcing it now should tell you something. 1/

On May 2, 2011, the White House notified news outlets that @BarackObama would be addressing the nation at 9:45pm. The Bin Laden news leaked, but Obama still went live from the East Room at 11:35pm that night.

This time, @realDonaldTrump wants a Sunday morning audience for... 2/

...whatever this announcement is.

If it is what it’s rumored to be, it means he kept Americans in the dark about a NatSec matter for 12 hours so he could build up suspense and claim credit with more people watching and distract from Ukraine/impeachment.

So, some advice... 3/

...for my TV colleagues:

Treat this like any other pool spray. Wait to see what he has to say, then play it out with an anchor there to fact check it all. No “SPECIAL REPORT” graphics or breaking into broadcast programming.

If there was real news, the White House would... 4/

...have already begun leaking the news & would probably have a background briefing call set up.

But all we have is a tweet & a vague promised announcement. It’s a plea to change the subject on a day when the news will be dominated by impeachment/Ukraine. Don’t get played. 5/5