Donald Trump is scared of facts, news media: Today's talker 'Any threat to Trump's authority is met with anger motivated by fear, and the media have been his biggest threat of all.'

USA TODAY

After meeting with President Donald Trump, New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger said he voiced his concerns regarding the president's inflammatory language about the news media. A roundup of opinion about the meeting:

Trump's insults won't end

Just one month and one day after reporters were gunned down in a deadly newsroom shooting, President Donald Trump launched another one of his signature attacks on the news media, the tiresome target of his tireless ire.

The verbal assault came in a tweetstorm Sunday following his talk with New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger, with whom he said he "had a very good and interesting meeting" on fake news and the president’s favorite phrase: "enemy of the people."

However, it wasn’t long before Trump returned to castigating journalists, tweeting out accusations that they’re fueled by "Trump Derangement Syndrome" and that their digging for scoops is unpatriotic.

It was a defiant slap in the face to Sulzberger, who divulged the details of the sit-down in a statement later that day, noting that he warned Trump his antagonism could have dire consequences for the news media. And indeed, it already has, as evidenced by the spike in threats against the press.

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Press freedom is under attack. Don’t wait for a journalist to be murdered to protest.

But this won’t stop. The media have perhaps become Trump’s greatest foe, and his most formidable. It’s the thing he loves to hate. And we know his base loves it, too.

It’s also a typical move for the president. Much like his dealings with North Korea or the European Union, he begins with a barrage of two-fisted attacks, extends a fake olive branch with an offer for a meeting, heralds it as a success, then reverts to aggression as he wishes. It has become such a common theme that during a monologue Sunday, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria dubbed it the “Donald Trump Two-Step.”

The president’s rhetoric reveals another truth: As his administration continues to fall under scrutiny, the Mueller probe looming and former fixer-gone-rogue Michael Cohen threatening to further upend his entire reputation, the news media are a thorn in Trump’s side. He’d rather they keep quiet. Every report, every leak and every insider scoop inches closer to jeopardizing his seat in one of the world’s most powerful chairs, which he battled the odds to secure as half the country laughed and cried. Any threat to his authority is met with anger motivated by fear, and the media have been his biggest threat of all.

The insults won’t end, the rhetoric won’t stop, but as always, the press must keep on keeping on, and it will.

Amy Russo is a writer for Mediaite, covering media and politics. You can follow her on Twitter: @amymrusso.

What our readers are saying

Maybe the mainstream news media should consider delivering news instead of slanted half-truths and lies. I suspect that if they cleaned their act, we the people and the president would change our opinion of them. Until then, the media are suspect in the area of bias and forthrightness of facts.

— Kent Price

Trump lies all the time. All the time! That is not opinion, that is documented. So, of course, he is lying about the Sulzberger meeting. Trump supporters won't accept this — they actually are so brainwashed that they believe Trump never lies. Trump supporters' only response will be to continue maligning the press.

— Dave Chandler

The media were light on the Obama administration and his team. Because the media have been so childishly critical of Trump, they have exposed their political bias. American media will never be trusted again.

— Charles Bryan

Trump is undermining every democratic institution in America. He must be removed from office as soon as possible, along with his Republican appeasers. We have to remove the influence of the angry and the ignorant, or we are in very serious trouble.

— Gabe Litvin

What others are saying

Buck Sexton, The Hill: "The press has fallen victim to a delusion of its own creation. President Donald Trump as an authoritarian who crushes free speech is a laughable inversion of reality. A vast majority of America’s political media apparatus (aren't) just oppositional to Trump — they have become activists who seek to end his presidency by any means they can. It is quite a strange authoritarian who abides not only criticism from the press, but an obvious desire to see him and his immediate family ruined, or even incarcerated. The desperation of the (media) to see themselves as victims of Trump’s imminent tyranny feels like an attempt to justify their own political maneuvering."

Rex Huppke, Chicago Tribune: "Trump isn’t going to stop using language like that to describe the media, regardless of how much damage it does to our democracy. He doesn’t care whether people get threatened or hurt because of his words. He wants to sow distrust in America’s free press, solely for his own benefit. You can bet that if reporters weren’t out there doing their jobs and reporting on the bumbling ineptitude of this administration and its seemingly never-ending series of scandals, and if opinion columnists like myself weren’t criticizing Trump for all that’s being reported, the president would never use the terms 'fake news' or 'enemy of the people.' We would be the 'Glorious News Media' and the 'wonderful journalists' who always get things right."

Joshua Habgood-Coote, Newsweek: "Using the term (fake news) also lends legitimacy to its propagandistic uses, making them look like reasonable contributions to public discourse. We might also worry that well-intentioned users of 'fake news' will be tempted to use the demagogue’s tools to engage in intellectual policing, undermining their own commitment to open public discourse. If we want to avoid empty talk and legitimating propaganda, we should simply stop using 'fake news.' What should we put in its place? I suspect that we can do quite a lot with ordinary terms such as 'lie,' 'bull----' and 'unreliable.' Perhaps we do need new terms, but we shouldn’t start by trying to repurpose the demagogue’s tools to defend democracy."

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