Fresh Attacks on US Media by Trump Stir Uproar

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Jan. 8 (SEE) – Once again, US President Donald Trump attacked news portals in his country, posting on twitter: “The fake news media in our country is the real opposition party, it is truly the enemy of the people! We must bring honesty back to journalism and reporting”.

The US president continued his never-ending attack on news media where he accuses them of being biased and offensive against him.

“With all of the success that our Country is having, including the just released jobs numbers which are off the charts, the Fake News & totally dishonest Media concerning me and my presidency has never been worse,” Trump said in the first of the tweets. “Many have become crazed lunatics who have given up on the TRUTH!”

But a couple of hours later, Trump was back on Twitter, taking issue with a New York Times story that reported that his national security adviser, John R. Bolton, had rolled back Trump’s decision to rapidly withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. Bolton told reporters in Israel that American forces would remain in Syria until the last remnants of the Islamic State were defeated.

Washington Post reviewed his tweets and wrote that Trump claimed that Bolton’s comments were no different from his original withdrawal announcement last month, writing that the United States “will be leaving at a proper pace” and “continuing to fight ISIS and doing all else that is prudent and necessary!” ISIS is another name for the Islamic State.

Last month, Trump justified his plans to withdraw about 2,000 troops from Syria by saying the Islamic State had been defeated in the region — a pronouncement that prompted widespread criticism from members of Congress, including Republicans. Other news outlets, including The Washington Post, also reported on Bolton’s comments Sunday.

Trump has described the news media as the “enemy of the people” in 18 tweets since June. He has said about 80 percent of the media falls into that category.

On her part, USA Today reported that on the same day that he continued his aggressive attack on the free press, President Trump is asking the media to give him prime-time air to address the nation.

He announced Monday that he “will Address the Nation on the Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border. Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.”

The US news portal questioned why should they cover that speech.

It considered that It is a disservice to the American people to broadcast, without context or real-time fact-checking, someone who is using the airwaves for the sole purpose of lying to the American people about an overtly racist agenda.