It's become an almost daily occurrence, but Donald Trump is only adding to his feud with the news media. Just 24 hours after holding his controversial White House press conference, the president is back on Twitter and calling out the mainstream press.
Trump on Twitter
When Donald Trump first announced his campaign for president, he came under fire after referring to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers." In the months that followed, Trump's relationship with the media deteriorated, leading the former host of "The Apprentice" to call out reporters and journalists during his campaign rallies.
Trump labeled the press as "terrible" and the "most dishonest people" he's ever met. The criticism struck a cord with his supporters, and in a recently released poll, Trump was viewed as more trustworthy than the news media, with 49 percent siding with the president, and only 39 percent favoring the press. As seen on his Twitter account on February 17, Trump was back on the attack.
Here's the tweet Trump deleted—he's seriously calling the media "the enemy of the American people" pic.twitter.com/TxhnjuNL7q
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 17, 2017
"The Fake News media (the failing @nytimes, @CNN, @NBCNews and many more) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people," Donald Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday afternoon, before adding in all caps, "SICK!" Within minutes of sending out his message on Twitter, Trump quickly deleted the tweet.
However, despite his best efforts, a screenshot was taken andit quickly went viral across social media.
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017
Moments later, Trump sent out another tweet, this time an updated version of his first message, but with added alleged "fake news" outlets.
"The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!," he wrote.
Moving forward
Donald Trump's tweets follow an early social media message where he also hit back at the media. On Thursday, following the aforementioned press conference, the commander in chief returned to Twitter to criticize the press for promoting "fake news" about his administration. The war of words between the White House and the press has reached a fever pitch, and it's unlikely to improve at any point in the near future.