海角大神

The June 6 Monitor Breakfast with Kellyanne Conway was a classic.

Ms. Conway, a top adviser to President Trump, arrived at the St. Regis Hotel at聽9 a.m.聽on the dot, not long after the boss had started tweeting. 鈥淔ake News鈥� was the operative phrase 鈥� Fake News about Tuesday鈥檚聽primaries, Fake News about first lady Melania Trump, over and over.

Mr. Trump kept at it while the breakfast was under way. I know, because my phone, sitting on the table before me, kept lighting up with push notifications. And I could see other reporters checking their phones. At one point, I picked mine up to take a peek. 鈥淗e just tweeted again!鈥� I interjected, showing my phone to Conway. She smiled.

鈥淚t was surreal, really: a mash-up of one of the most orderly and enlightening of Washington press venues 鈥� a聽聽where Conway spoke 鈥� with the free-wheeling tweeting of a commander-in-chief who has made the media the enemy,鈥� one of the 30 reporters present, Jerry Zremski of The Buffalo News,聽.

Conway had told me that Trump knew she was speaking at our breakfast that morning, so it鈥檚 tempting to think he was trolling us. Of course, morning tweets are part of his routine 鈥� often about 鈥渇ake news鈥� 鈥� though the next day, he didn鈥檛 use that phrase once.

At the breakfast, Conway told us she is an advocate of traditional media inside the Trump White House.聽鈥淚鈥檓 somebody who believes that the more that the president engages with the press, the better,聽鈥漵he said, while also touting what she called his 鈥渟mall-d democratic,鈥� direct-to-the-public use of social media.

Conway鈥檚 title is 鈥渃ounselor to the president鈥� 鈥� the highest level 鈥� and her brief is wide, including leading Trump鈥檚 response to the opioid crisis. She鈥檚 also a mother of four, and her no-nonsense style reflects that. But Conway has always been a sharp debater. I know, because I used to talk to her regularly back when she was 鈥渏ust鈥� a Republican pollster who specialized in understanding women, both as voters and consumers.

Her only other appearance at a Monitor Breakfast came聽, to discuss a book she co-wrote called 鈥淲hat Women Really Want.鈥� As Trump鈥檚 final campaign manager,聽聽may well have been crucial to his victory. Now, her name and face are widely recognized as one of Trump鈥檚 top TV surrogates.

I have run into Conway several times since Trump became president, both in the White House press room and at social events. Each time, I told her we鈥檇 love to have her appear at our breakfast, and she was always enthusiastic. Eventually, we got her on the calendar.

But on the eve of the breakfast, Conway鈥檚 office said she could stay just 45 minutes. The next morning, a half-hour in, it was clear that her long answers were eating up time. Only a few reporters had gotten their questions in.

I glanced nervously at her assistant across the room, and she gave me a thumbs-up. Indeed, Conway seemed to be enjoying our highly civil form of combat, and at the 45-minute mark, she agreed to keep going. In the end, she stayed at the table 15 minutes beyond the customary hour.

The reports on the breakfast took a variety of tacks. I wrote about Conway as a White House 鈥�.鈥� Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times聽聽following her near-interrogation of Conway about Illinois鈥檚 imprisoned former governor, Rod Blagojevich. S.V. D谩te of The Huffington Post wrote about聽. John Gizzi of Newsmax wrote about the chatter around聽.

We didn鈥檛 have TV cameras in the room, but you can listen to our audio recording聽.

I must also add that I loved the wide shot photographer Michael Bonfigli took at the breakfast, viewable above 鈥� a female guest, flanked by female reporters. Lots of girl power in that image.