White House held just 3 daily press briefings in July

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders hosted just three “daily” press briefings during the month of July, according to official transcripts released by the Trump administration.

The low number comes at a time when the president and his press team face an increasingly fraught relationship with the White House press corps — and the media more broadly.

{mosads}CNN’s Allie Malloy first reported the low number of briefings, tweeting that Sanders had been behind the podium for less than an hour over the entire month.

“It’s the last day of the month and there is no WH briefing on the schedule. There have been 3 in July equaling a total of 58 minutes,” Malloy tweeted.

It’s the last day of the month and there is no WH briefing on the schedule. There have been 3 in July equaling a total of 58 minutes.

— Allie Malloy (@AlliemalCNN) July 31, 2018

Recent press briefings hosted by Sanders have been characterized by combative questions from press corps members and retaliation from administration officials.

Last week, a CNN reporter was barred from attending a press availability at the Rose Garden for shouting questions at the president earlier in the day.

The hostility to the media has also been on display at President Trump’s rallies — particularly toward well-known members of the media who Trump has singled out for criticism, such as CNN’s Jim Acosta.

Trump himself has given several press briefings this month, including on Monday alongside Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House.

He also took questions after his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin — when he made remarks, later walked back, in which he cast doubt on U.S. intelligence findings of Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Still, the number of daily press briefings hosted by the White House press secretary is lower than July numbers for previous administrations.

In July 2010, the Obama administration hosted 12 briefings, while the Bush administration hosted nine in July 2006, according to the CNN report.

There have been times during the Trump administration where briefings by the press secretaries have been frequent. Briefings have previously been held daily when the president was in Washington.

Full press conferences by the president, however, have been a rarity. Trump has only done one solo news conference from the White House as president. 

Trump and his administration have frequently criticized news outlets present during the daily press briefings for supposed inaccurate reporting, blasting reports and sometimes whole news organizations as “fake news.”