Oscar winning actor and noted Democrat Tom Hanks has gifted a new espresso machine worth over $2,000 to the White House’s news correspondents on Thursday.
The gift came accompanied with a note, typed on the actor’s typewriter, which read: “To The White House Press Corps,keep up the good fight for truth, justice and the American way. Especially for the truth part.”
The note also included a cartoon drawing of American soldiers, captioned: “Fresh, spirited American troops, flushed with victory, are bringing in thousands of hungry, ragged, battle-weary prisoners.
Hanks had, earlier as well, gifted an espresso machine to White House correspondents in 2004 and upgraded it in 2010.
The Trump Administration has been continuously battling with the press since the inaugural. Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump singled out news outlets for being “dishonest” and barred The Washington Post from covering his campaign events. Earlier in February, Trump had called the media “the enemy of American people”.
Last week, the White House had prevented reporters from outlets including the Guardian, the New York Times, BuzzFeed and CNN from attending an off-camera press briefing with press secretary Sean Spicer.
