Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide, said the reason he thinks President Trump so adamantly targets his network for criticism is because its viewers are more susceptible to changing their minds.

In an interview with the New York Times published Wednesday night, Zucker said CNN's reputation for lacking an overt ideological bent, like MSNBC and Fox News, have put it in Trump's crosshairs.

"Television is his preferred medium," he said. "And he knows our viewers can be swayed because they're not watching Fox or MSNBC."

Zucker also said Trump and his aides' blows against CNN are an attempt to neutralize its critical reporting.

"He's trying to bully us, and we're not going to let him intimidate us," he said. "You can't lose your confidence and let that change the way you conduct yourselves."

Tensions between the White House and the media ratcheted up in recent weeks but Trump has taken to frequently home in on CNN, which has suffered a series of setbacks of its own doing, even retracting one report about one of the president's associates.

Still, a poll released earlier this week said CNN has the advantage with the public, with more people (50 percent) saying they trust CNN than the president (43 percent).