Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, co-hosts of MSNBC's *Morning Joe* and vocal critics of President-elect Donald Trump, recently met with him at his Mar-a-Lago resort for the first time in seven years. The meeting, which followed a period of tense relations, was significant due to the strained history between the two parties. The hosts had not communicated with Trump since 2020, except for a brief personal call from Scarborough after a rally where an assassination attempt on Trump occurred in July.
During the *Morning Joe* show, Brzezinski emphasized that although she and Scarborough disagreed with Trump on many issues, the primary goal of the meeting was to restart communication. "What we did agree on was to restart communications," she said. She also described Trump as upbeat and open to finding common ground on divisive issues, signaling a shift in the tone of their interactions.
Scarborough, who is married to Brzezinski, explained that a close ally of Trump suggested that now could be a critical time to engage with him, as Trump is not seeking another term in office. However, Scarborough made it clear that their intent was not to defend or normalize Trump but to provide better insights and report on the current political climate. "We're here to report on him and to hopefully provide you insights and better equip all of us to understand these deeply unsettling times," he told Trump's aide during the meeting.
