"They analyze every word. They say, 'Did he say that?' Could it have been? Did he say something positive about Russia? I think he loves Russia,'" the president said, imitating a member of the media.

"Look at all these cameras. Every stop, I get all these cameras. This never happened to Obama. This never happened to Bush. This never happened," he said.

Many news organizations covered those presidents on domestic travel and foreign trips.

Trump was speaking at a U.S. Steel facility in southern Illinois, where he made the case his steel and aluminum tariffs are helping American workers.

The president has repeatedly voiced his frustration over media coverage of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he failed to publicly condemn the Russian leader for interfering in the 2016 election.