Donald Trump sets new record: The longest time without a formal press conference in 50 years

Since succeeding Barack Obama at the White House, Donald Trump has taken credit for a number of records being broken, from stock market performance to unemployment figures.

Now he has set a new record, after going the longest as US president without holding a formal press conference in over half a century.

According to records stretching back to the Calvin Coolidge administration (beginning in August 1923), compiled by the American Presidency Project, Trump has gone longer without holding a formal press conference than any of his predecessors since Lyndon Johnson, who served as president between November 1963 and January 1969.

By comparison, George W Bush and Barack Obama had held five and 11 solo press conferences respectively by the end of their first years as president.

However, the White House has disputed the findings, insisting a lack of solo press conferences did not mean Trump was making himself unavailable to the press.

"The president and his administration have been one of the accessible administrations," White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters was quoted as saying by The Daily Beast. "The president frequently holds impromptu gaggles, takes questions from the pool and engages daily with the American people."

Some have suggested the lack of pre-planned press conferences might be a strategy deliberately implemented by Trump's administration to prevent particularly difficult questions from being put to the president. However, the move could have a damaging impact in the long term.

"There's no better accountability mechanism than the president answering questions directly from the press corps," a former Obama administration official was quoted as saying by the publication.

"That exchange is good for the country, good for democracy, and it's also good for the White House. Reporters are generally channeling the questions on the minds of the American people.

"It's really the best way to reassure allies and critics alike that you're engaged and focused on advancing the interests of all Americans."

Throughout his electoral campaign, Trump repeatedly singled out CNN as the chief perpetrator of a media agenda aimed at discrediting him by spreading "fake news", while Fox News, which is notoriously close to the Republican Party, was routinely praised for its coverage.

Trump's attacks on CNN and other major US media outlets have not stopped after he was surprisingly elected president just over 12 months ago.