Trump getting more open to chatting in public


              April Ryan, left, the Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks gestures as she asks questions to President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, Oct. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
April Ryan, left, the Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks gestures as she asks questions to President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, Oct. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump rarely holds formal, stand-alone news conferences. But his freewheeling, last-minute Rose Garden news conference Monday is the latest example of his willingness to talk to journalists on the fly.

For nearly 40 minutes, the president talked about everything from tax policy to the Russia investigations to Hillary Clinton. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who joined the president to affirm their working relationship, quietly stood by.

The press-savvy president has been particularly chatty with reporters lately. He offers opinions in the Oval Office. He stops to talk on the South Lawn and chats on the tarmac as he boards Air Force One.

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