Channel 2's Craig Lucie meets with President Trump

WASHINGTON — Channel 2 Action News was the only local TV station invited to the White House for a meeting with President Donald Trump.

Channel 2's Craig Lucie was one of only a handful of journalists who were hand selected to have dinner with the president.

On Tuesday night, Trump will address Congress in a prime-time speech.

He's expected to touch on campaign promises, including a wall at Mexico's boarder, repealing the Affordable Care Act and spending billions more on the military.

All of the topics came up at Monday night’s dinner.

Lucie sat next to President Trump during the 90-minute dinner.

As everyone was waiting for the president to arrive, Lucie said, Vice President Mike Pence walked in.

After Pence left, the group sat down to begin dinner.

As they started to eat, Trump walked in with first lady Melania Trump.

No cameras were allowed into the dinner, but Lucie took some picture beforehand. There were only 17 anchors from regional TV stations at the dinner.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer and his staff made it clear that the dinner was a conversation that was off the record, but parts of it were allowed on the record.

The first topic the group went over was Russia and hackers. Trump made it clear that he does not have any ties to Russia.

The president said he wanted to have the meeting because his administration knows the value of what the reporters do, in speaking directly to people in their homes, and the administration wants to utilize local media.

Trump said he is frustrated with the national media.

Lucie asked Trump what has been his biggest challenge since moving from running businesses to running the country and he said it was the media.

Trump also addressed North Korea, saying the country has to be dealt with and has to be dealt with soon. He told Lucie that only a fool would say it's not a problem.

He called the recent stock market run the Trump Bump.

Spicer told the group of reporters the administration thinks Monday’s dinner is the first time a President has ever sat down with local television reporters for a dinner in the state dining room.

On a very minor note, dinner consisted of arugula salad, braised short ribs in red wine and a warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream.

Lucie will remain in Washington for the president’s address to Congress on Tuesday.

The White House is promising that Trump's first address to Congress will be a forward-looking one about the "renewal of the American spirit."

The speech offers Trump an opportunity to stand before millions of viewers around the United States and the world, and try to reframe his presidency after a chaotic opening in which he's rattled world leaders, railed against leaked information, engaged in open warfare with the press and seen his signature effort to halt some immigration thwarted by the courts. He probably will stress early achievements such as his nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court and a series of executive orders to rein in government.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, asked what he wanted to hear from Trump on Tuesday, told a Chamber of Commerce crowd in Kentucky last week: "A tweet-free, optimistic and uplifting message about where America needs to go."

While the traditions of Congress demand manners and cordiality, plenty of drama has unfolded over the years in the interplay between presidents and legislators during State of the Union speeches and other formal addresses, such as Tuesday's.

During President Barack Obama's September 2009 address to a joint session of Congress on health care, Rep. Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, blurted out "You lie!" It was seen by many as a breathtaking show of disrespect. Groups of Republicans also showed their displeasure with Obama in more subtle ways, by snickering or not applauding.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Cox Media Group