He wrote: “The New York Times reporting is false. They are a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”
Trump did not cite a specific article in his Twitter post, but his blunt declaration came a day after The Times published a report describing how he had tried to influence and undermine investigations surrounding him, his presidential campaign and his administration.
Trump has long denigrated American news outlets that in his view deliver less-than-favorable reports. Less than a month into his presidency, Trump wrote in a Twitter post that specific news organizations, including The Times, were not his enemy, but were the enemy of the American people. At the time, the statement was shocking because it came from the newly inaugurated leader of a country that prides itself on press freedoms.
The president has periodically returned to that expression during moments of peak criticism.
But Wednesday’s denigration went a step further, suggesting that The Times reporting, across the board, was not to be trusted and was done to the detriment of Americans.
The Times’ publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, in a statement cited previous presidents of both political parties who not only championed the free press, but said it was a crucial foundation of a free society.
“All these presidents had complaints about their coverage and at times took advantage of the freedom every American has to criticize journalists,” Sulzberger said. “But in demonizing the free press as the enemy, simply for performing its role of asking difficult questions and bringing uncomfortable information to light, President Trump is retreating from a distinctly American principle.”
The Times also defended the article about Trump, which it said “was rigorously reported and based on a review of confidential White House documents as well as interviews with dozens of current and former government officials and others close to President Trump.”
Wednesday was not the first time Sulzberger had made this argument to Trump.
On Jan. 31, Trump assured Sulzberger that he, like previous American presidents, was a great defender of the free press.
“I want to be. I want to be,” Trump said during an Oval Office interview with Sulzberger and two Times reporters.
And in July 2018, Trump made similar statements in an off-the-record meeting with Sulzberger. But nine days later, Trump broke the agreement to keep the meeting private when he tweeted about the conversation and said the two men discussed “the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, ‘Enemy of the People.’ Sad!”
Sulzberger said the president misrepresented their discussion and called Trump’s attacks on the news media “dangerous and harmful to our country.”
The president’s Twitter feed on the snowy Wednesday morning in Washington was peppered with direct and broad attacks on the news media and retweets of favorable news coverage of him, in addition to a single backhanded welcome to the 2020 presidential race for “Crazy” Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who recently entered the crowded pool of candidates vying for the Democratic nomination.
In one tweet, Trump said, “The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today.,” adding, “The writers don’t even call asking for verification.”
If Trump was suggesting that The Times reporters did not reach out to the White House for comment on the recent article, he was wrong. A Times reporter contacted the White House about the article on Friday, days before it was published, and continued to press for comment over the following days, including on the day the article was published.
In another tweet on Wednesday, Trump weighed in on a new libel lawsuit against The Washington Post, siding with the plaintiffs — the family of Nick Sandmann, a Covington Catholic High School student from Kentucky who was involved in an encounter in Washington last month with a Native American man that went viral on social media. According to the lawsuit, The Post “bullied” Sandmann because he was a “white, Catholic student wearing a red ‘Make America Great Again’ souvenir cap.” The Sandmanns are seeking $250 million in damages.
“Go get them Nick. Fake News!” Trump wrote.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.