Today In History: Trump To 'Evolve' Before Election; First White House Reporter Emerges

April 24, 2017, is the 114th day of the year, with 251 days remaining. The moon is in a waning crescent phase, and illumination is at 6 percent, decreasing until the new moon on April 26.

Will Donald Trump “evolve” closer to general election?

Two days after Donald Trump’s then-senior adviser, Paul Manafort, told the Republican Party that the GOP frontrunner would “evolve” as he neared the general election, Trump assured his supporters that this would not be the case. Trump assured voters during a Saturday rally in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that his tone would not change.

“Everything I say I’m going to do, folks, I’ll do,” he announced, re-upping his promise to build a wall along the southern U.S. border in an effort to keep out illegal Mexican immigrants.

As of today, the cost for the wall has been estimated at around $22 billion, but could a government shutdown arrive sooner than Trump’s desired funding?

William Price emerges as first White House correspondent

In 1897, William Price — writer for the Washington Evening Star, known today simply as The Washington Star — was refused space within the White House. Price consequently waited outside of the Executive Mansion, as it was then called, to interview the visitors of President Grover Cleveland.

This catalytic event eventuated growing demand for routine presidential news, which coincided with a president — William McKinley — who was prepared to give the media regular access to the White House.

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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore