President Donald Trump has begun routinely answering reporters who dial his personal cellphone, granting impromptu interviews that upend the traditionally scripted nature of presidential media access. An Associated Press review shows the practice has accelerated in recent weeks, notably on 21 June, when Trump conducted six separate phone interviews within hours of ordering strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The next day he spoke to The Wall Street Journal for just 38 seconds—long enough to insert a fresh presidential quote into the paper’s story. ABC’s Jonathan Karl and NBC’s Kristen Welker are among journalists who say they now try the direct line first. “It’s classic Trump. It defies tradition,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said. White House communications director Steven Cheung describes the outreach as proof of what he calls the 'most transparent president in history,' but the ad-hoc calls leave staff scrambling for transcripts and briefings. Bill Frischling of Roll Call Factbase notes that while 89 percent of Trump’s first-term interviews had public records, only about half do so now because of the spike in private phone calls. Security specialists have warned since the 2024 election that foreign intelligence services, including China’s, could monitor the unsecured device. Despite the risk and criticism that the tactic undercuts formal press briefings, Trump appears undeterred, viewing unfiltered phone access as a strategic way to control his narrative amid ongoing legal disputes with major news outlets.