Sinclair TV chairman to President Trump: 'We are here to deliver your message'

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The chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group met President Donald Trump at the White House during a visit to pitch a potentially lucrative new product to administration officials. David D Smith briefed officials in 2017 on a system that would enable authorities to broadcast direct to any American’s phone. Smith said his White House meeting was not financially motivated. The Federal Communications Commission decided in November 2017 to make incorporating chips voluntary. Sinclair had itself stopped short of calling for compulsory installation but said the government might need to consider this in the future. As well as entertainment, the chip allows mobile devices to receive messages from an upgraded government public warning system, through which authorities can send video statements and multimedia even when telephone lines are down. “The public interest aspect is enormous in terms of the lives it will save,” said Smith. The chips would, he said, allow authorities to target any individual cellphone, all phones in a specific zipcode, or other select recipient lists.

Smith said he was unable to recall precisely when the White House meeting took place and which officials he briefed. Smith did not respond to follow-up questions on whether Sinclair’s proposed purchase of Tribune Media was discussed with Trump or other officials. “I just wanted them to be aware of the technology,” said Smith. He also struck out at Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, for reportedly boasting that Trump’s 2016 campaign team made a deal for favourable coverage on Sinclair stations in return for giving access to the company’s journalists. “I was pissed off,” said Smith, who denied giving Trump’s team a special arrangement.

But Smith did recall an offer he made to Trump in 2016 after Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination. Ben Carson, now Trump’s housing secretary, helped arrange a meeting at Trump Tower, according to Smith, who like Carson is based in the Baltimore area. “I asked [Trump], ‘Would you like us to embed with you during your campaign?’,” said Smith. “And he brought a bunch of people in the room, and he said, ‘Well, whatever’. And I said: ‘We are here to deliver your message. Period.’” Smith denied that this amounted to Sinclair acting as a mouthpiece for Trump. He said it meant only that Trump could be interviewed by Sinclair whenever he chose. Smith said a similar offer was extended to Hillary Clinton by letter but was not taken up by the Democratic nominee.


Sinclair TV chairman to President Trump: 'We are here to deliver your message'