March 28, 2024

Trump Brags about Allegedly Vanquished North Korean Threat, Declares Press Main U.S. Enemy



U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions during a press conference following his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)


“We’ve become inured to this, but what would we say about another country where their leader was calling journalists their ‘biggest enemy’?”


By Jake Johnson / 06.13.2018



After triumphantly boasting in a tweet on Friday that North Korea is “no longer a nuclear threat” following just a few hours of vague discussions, an absolutely “bonkers” video presentation, and several photo ops with Kim Jong Un, President Donald Trump declared that the “biggest enemy” of the United States is now “fake news”—otherwise known as journalism Trump doesn’t like.

“They are fighting hard to downplay the deal with North Korea,” Trump tweeted, apparently referring to journalists who have highlighted the fact that the “deal” reached with North Korea is thin on substance, non-binding, and just the first step in a long diplomatic process.

“Our country’s biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!” Trump added.

While this is hardly the first time Trump has launched such a broadside against journalism—last year he cast the news media as “the enemy of the American people“—the president’s latest attack was nonetheless met with alarm by reporters and at least one government official.

“I believe in the First Amendment. I believe in journalism. I believe pronouncements like this cross lines,” wrote FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “I hope and pray that my FCC colleagues agree.”


Originally published by Common Dreams under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license.