As he headed to the Helsinki summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed a new attack Sunday on two of his favorite targets, the U.S. news media and opposition Democrats.
The U.S. leader contended on Twitter that the American news media "is indeed the enemy of the people and all the Dems know how to do is resist and obstruct. This is why there is such hatred and dissension in our country – but at some point, it will heal!"
The U.S. leader said he was looking forward to meeting Putin in the Finnish capital, but said, "Unfortunately, no matter how well I do at the Summit, if I was given the great city of Moscow as retribution for all of the sins and evils committed by Russia over the years, I would return to criticism that it wasn’t good enough – that I should have gotten Saint Petersburg in addition!"
In one of a string of tweets, Trump said, "There hasn’t been a missile or rocket fired in 9 months in North Korea, there have been no nuclear tests and we got back our hostages. Who knows how it will all turn out in the end, but why isn’t the Fake News talking about these wonderful facts? Because it is FAKE NEWS!"
Heaping praise on Russia
Trump congratulated France on winning the World Cup, saying it had "played extraordinary soccer."
"Additionally, congratulations to President Putin and Russia for putting on a truly great World Cup Tournament - one of the best ever!" Trump said.
Trump has feuded with the U.S. news media throughout his 18-month presidency, almost daily branding stories he doesn't like as "fake news." He refused to answer a CNN reporter's question at a Friday news conference in Britain, calling it a "fake news" network, and then pointedly calling on a reporter from his favorite cable television channel, Fox News, describing it as a "real network."
During the weekend, the White House withdrew an appearance by Trump national security adviser John Bolton from a CNN interview show Sunday, after he had already accepted an invitation.
Trump has routinely assailed Democratic lawmakers for failing to support his legislative agenda. But it has often has been recalcitrant Republican colleagues of Trump who have cast decisive votes against key measures he supported to overhaul national health care and immigration policies, dooming the legislation.
