Right from the kick off of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump was in the face of the media. He had on many occasions ridiculed and insulted them, claiming the media was publishing stuffs to favour his opponent.
Months after, the story remains the same. Relationship between President Trump and the media has continued to strain but who will win this war?
On Thursday, Trump opened a new chapter in his unending attack against the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
In a 76-minute press conference he told reporters their level of dishonesty was out of control. If Trump had his way, he probably may have landed some blows on their faces.
He charged them with downplaying his achievements after he “inherited a mess at home and abroad”.
He cited coverage of his campaign’s alleged contacts with Moscow and how it was reported.
His news conference at the White House comes after Mr Trump’s national security adviser was forced to resign and his labour secretary withdrew his nomination.
Michael Flynn, Mr Trump’s national security adviser, resigned on Monday after he misled the Vice-President Mike Pence about whether he discussed US sanctions with Russia’s ambassador before his own appointment.
If the allegations are true, he would violate a law barring private citizens from conducting US diplomacy.
According to BBC coverage of the news conference, when Trump was pressed about claims made in the US media that his campaign staff had been in contact with Russian officials during the campaign, Mr Trump replied “nobody that I know of” had done so.
“Russia is fake news. This is fake news put out by the media,” he added.
There are cross-party calls for a congressional investigation already looking into Russia’s alleged interference in the election to be expanded to include the Michael Flynn affair.
An NBC reporter challenged Mr Trump’s false claim that he won the electoral college by the biggest margin since Ronald Reagan.
The president answered, simply: “I was given that information.”
Mr Trump also raised eyebrows with a comment to an African-American journalist when she asked whether he planned to include the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in developing his agenda.
The president asked April Ryan if the black lawmakers are “friends of yours”, adding: “I tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting?”
Members of the CBC later expressed dismay at the remark.
Mr Trump returned to criticism of the media throughout Thursday’s exchange with reporters, but contended he was “having a good time”.
“Tomorrow, they will say, ‘Donald Trump rants and raves at the press.’ I’m not ranting and raving,” he declared.
“I’m just telling you. You know, you’re dishonest people. But I’m not ranting and raving. I love this.”
Mr Trump also suggested he would replace his controversial executive order temporarily barring travel from seven Muslim-majority countries next week with a new, revised order.
He said the rollout of the travel ban was “very smooth” despite legal challenges his administration has faced, and chaos at airports when hundreds of protesters voiced their disapproval.
