President Trump on Wednesday slammed NBC News and demanded an apology over its report that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne TillersonGary Cohn: 'I haven't made up my mind' on vote for president in November Kushner says 'Alice in Wonderland' describes Trump presidency: Woodward book Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE referred to the president as a "moron."

"NBC news is #FakeNews and more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down!" the president tweeted.

NBC news is #FakeNews and more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017

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Trump in a second tweet said the network should apologize to the U.S.

"The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!" Trump tweeted.

The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017

Trump's comments came hours after NBC News reported that Tillerson had referred to Trump as a "moron" and that other administration officials had to urge the nation's top diplomat not to leave his post.

Tillerson pushed back on the report during an impromptu news conference on Wednesday.

"The vice president has never had to persuade me to remain as secretary of State because I have never considered leaving this post," he said.

When asked whether he called the president a moron, however, Tillerson said, "I'm just not going to deal with petty stuff like that."

Trump appeared to take aim at Tillerson in a pair of tweets on Sunday, saying the Cabinet official was "wasting his time" if he continued to engage in talks with North Korea.

I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017

...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017

—This report was updated at 11:31 a.m.