Trigger warning: The following article contains potentially painful details about a supposedly committed member of the media elite committing an act of "violence" against her network's dwindling audience.
On Thursday, President Trump sent shockwaves through the White House press corps by announcing that he has agreed to meet with North Korea's Kim Jong Un "by May" and that the dictator has committed to calling off all nuclear arms testing until then. In other words, Trump dropped the bomb on the establishment media that he is about to do something no other sitting president has ever been able to pull off: personally meet with a North Korean leader.
AP has been feverishly covering the story with a series of updates. A few of the more significant developments (formatting adjusted):
The White House says President Donald Trump’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be held “at a place and time to be determined.” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement after a South Korean official broke the stunning news. Sanders says Trump “will accept the invitation to meet with” Kim. ...
President Donald Trump says “Great progress” is being made, but sanctions on North Korea will remain in place as he prepares for what would be the first-ever meeting between the two countries’ leaders. ... Trump says Kim “talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze.” He also says North Korea has agreed to stop testing missiles.
In her coverage of the widely-celebrated announcement, CNN's Erin Burnett admitted with slight hesitation something that Trump's critics weren't thrilled to hear: the "extraordinary" development would have a major impact on Trump's legacy.
"Just an extraordinary evening, and, of course, opening the door to the big question: If President Trump can truly solve this problem, ah, that would be going down as a great president," said Burnett, adding, "And there's no way around that. That's the reality here."
As Twitchy highlights, the response online was nearly nuclear. A few examples:
And, of course, there was lots of trolling fun from pro-Trumpers and anti-CNNers: