From Vilnius and LRT to the Oval Office: reporting on Donald Trump's America

As Lithuanian Public Broadcaster LRT's Washington correspondent, Augustinas Semelis has found himself at the center of American politics during one of the most turbulent periods in recent history. Reporting daily from the White House, he has witnessed the return of President Donald Trump, competed with the world's leading media outlets for access, and even exchanged remarks with Trump himself in the Oval Office. Semelis shares with The Baltic Times Magazine what it is really like to cover the U.S. administration and President Trump from Washington.

What was your path to Washington, D.C.?

I was already working as a TV news reporter for LRT when an opportunity presented itself: the national broadcaster decided to send a permanent reporter to Washington. As Washington is such an important decision-making center for Europe and our region, this decision was long overdue. Until then we had reporters only in Brussels. Multiple journalists applied for the Washington job, and I was lucky to be picked.

What did you have to do to receive White House accreditation? Were there any requirements or details you never imagined would matter during the approval process?

It took me months to get it. One unexpected requirement: to get a White House press pass, first you need Congressional accreditation. Congress carefully vets media outlets, they want proof, for example, that these are not lobby organizations working for foreign governments disguised as media. Once I got my credentials from Congress, the process in the White House went fast. One additional thing they do is a Secret Service background check.

Talk about the hustle and jostling for the best position close to Donald Trump during press conferences.

Oh, it’s crazy. Dozens of journalists are squeezing for the best and closest position to the president, because only if you are in front you will have realistic chance to ask a question. President of the United States is always followed around by a group of mostly American journalists, who cover his every move and every word. They have a priority to be prepositioned in the best spot to talk to the president, because they serve rest of the media too with their video material and their questions. But for other reporters that makes it even tougher to get a good spot to talk to the president.

How early can journalists enter the room before the President arrives?

If we are talking about the White House press briefing room, reporters start taking positions hours in advance if we know that the president is going to be briefing. If we are talking about the Oval Office, then only a small, preselected group of journalists are taken there when the president is already at his desk and ready to talk.

Covering U.S. politics daily, what shocks you most about the gap between America’s image and reality?

Many people imagine America as a land of milk and honey. And it is absolutely an incredibly beautiful country, but the more you travel here and the more you see, the more you realize that poverty in America too, they also have bad roads, and social issues, and sometimes entire towns who seem economically left behind. Particularly in the former industrial heartland of America, where most factory jobs have left, many people are hurting and are angry at politics in Washington. Donald Trump rode to the White House on the wave of their anger. Only seeing it firsthand you can truly understand Trump’s phenomena, and I try to show it and explain it in my work.

You have covered not only Donald Trump but also attended press conferences with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance. How would you describe them individually in terms of eloquence, preparedness, and their ability to deal 'humanely' with an often aggressive crowd of journalists?

Pete Hegseth deals with critical questions very aggressively, he even compared journalists to biblical pharisees in one press briefing. JD Vance is very eloquent and tries to charm reporters with jokes, even if he likes sparring with critical journalists too. I’d say Marco Rubio has proven himself to be the most effective communicator in recent months. He gives an impression that he genuinely tries to answer every question and does that without always coming back to prepared talking points.

Can you recall any awkward or funny moments during press conferences, perhaps even involving yourself?

In the last year of Joe Biden’s administration, I was asking his spokesperson John Kirby a question related to Ukraine’s NATO membership, and I described the 2008 NATO summit formula, where it was stated that NATO’s door is open to Ukraine as “famously vague”. Kirby laughed and said he should call his autobiography “Famously Vague”. If he does, I’d like to take credit for that.

More recently, when I was in the Oval Office and asked president Trump a question, he cut me off to ask where I am from with this “beautiful accent.”

In your view, is Trumpism a temporary political wave or America’s new long-term condition?

One thing is certain: Trump has blown apart the old ideological party structure in the US. After him, the republicans will not come back to where they were before Trump, and neither will the democrats. The democrats were profoundly shaken by two dramatic losses to Trump. We already see signs that a wave of populist backlashes is growing among the democratic voters too and we still don’t know the direction this party will take for the next election.

What do Lithuanian and Baltic politicians still struggle to understand about the current U.S. administration and American politics more broadly?

We need to be extremely active and visible in Washington. Most officials here do not think about the Baltic states as much as we would like to imagine. Baltic states do have many friends in Congress, but this group is shrinking over the decades, and a new generation of politicians is less interested in Europe and our region. We cannot take American support for granted forever; we have to put more work than ever to maintain this alliance.

Has the war in Ukraine fundamentally changed how U.S. elites view the Baltic states?

It has not. Baltic states were always seen as the most pro-American corner of Europe, together with Poland, a reliable ally. The issue is, the relative importance of Europe has been shrinking for many years already in the minds of many American politicians. 50 years ago, Europe was the most important region for American foreign policy and interests. Today, it is not. We have to be aware of it.

What is the biggest misconception Lithuanians still have about America?

I heard many Europeans, not necessarily only Lithuanians, say that American smiles and friendliness are fake. I really don’t think they are. In my experience most people here, especially further away from the big stressful cities, are extremely friendly and open, sometimes I am just blown away by how lovely and open simple Americans can be.

How do Lithuanian, European, and American journalism differ in the way they cover news and politics?

Everyone talks about polarization of American society, but that polarization likely started with American media. Not in every case, but often it is much more divisive than European journalism. In Lithuania and most European countries fact journalism and opinion journalism are separate. In American journalism, not really: if you turn on Fox News, you will learn that Donald Trump is the best president America has ever had. If you turn on MSNBC, you will learn that he is the worst president America has ever had. And they base this on the same set of facts.

Have social media platforms in the U.S. become more influential political actors than traditional journalism?

I think they have. In more than one case, a famous American journalist has left a traditional TV show and then created a more successful show on Youtube, gathering more viewers than they had on TV, millions of them. Most journalists here are also very active on X (former Twitter), which is the main social media platform in US to share and comment political content.

After years in Washington, are you more optimistic or more anxious about the future of liberal democracy?

I am a bad future predictor. Famously, after the end of Cold War, Francis Fukuyama declared “the end of history” and the final victory of liberal democracy. Turns out, he was a bad predictor too. I don’t want to sound melodramatic, but the future of the West seems to be at the crossroads, and I don’t know which way we are going to turn.

What does a typical working day in Washington look like for you?

There is a 7-hour time difference to Lithuania, so my morning is already middle of the workday in Vilnius, therefore I wake up and start early. We have a call with editors in Vilnius every Monday morning to discuss the week’s agenda and news in Washington, discussing what to cover. But in Trump’s Washington, it’s next to impossible to know what will happen in the next 24 hours, let alone in the next five days. So, every morning I just try to follow the latest. On most days, this takes me to the White House, where I will either have live hits for TV, or I film stories and interviews for the next morning’s show. Afternoon in Washington is already night in Lithuania. So, I must edit and send my filmed material to Vilnius by the evening Washington time, so it makes it to the early morning news Lithuanian time.