Trump’s top brass divided over attacks on media

WASHINGTON • Donald Trump’s defence secretary and his chief of staff were miles apart Sunday when commenting on their boss’s continuing attack on the “enemy of the American people” — the media.

On the one hand, his defence secretary distanced himself from the president’s attacks, calling journalists a constituency of the democratic process.

James Mattis’s comments came after his commanderin-chief declared the fifth estate the “enemy of the American people” and vowed to “expose them for what they are.”

“The press, as far as I’m concerned, are a constituency that we deal with,” Mattis said. “And I don’t have any issues with the press, myself.”

On the other hand, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus warned that Trump’s attacks, which often come in the form of missives on Twitter, should be taken “seriously.” He described political reporting on Trump’s first month — one of the most turbulent of perhaps any presidency — as a “feeding frenzy” of “bogus” stories.

Priebus attacked as “total garbage” the media coverage of allegations that the Trump campaign may have colluded with Moscow in its alleged interference in the U.S. election, despite the claims also being subject to a Senate intelligence committee investigation.

He said journalists should report that Trump “has accomplished more in the first 30 days in this presidency than people can remember in a long time.”

“I think the problem we’ve got is that we’re talking about bogus stories.… And I think the media needs to, in some cases, not every case … but in some cases, really needs to get its act together.”

During an interview with CBS’s John Dickerson, Priebus cited two recent stories that he described as “grossly inaccurate, overstated, overblown” and “total garbage.”

One is a New York Times report that says phone records and intercepted calls show Trump’s aides had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election. CNN also has published a similar story.

The other is a Wall Street Journal article about U.S. intelligence officials withholding sensitive information from the president because of fears that it could be leaked. The stories relied on revelations by current and former officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose classified information.

That’s a problem, Priebus said.

“I think that we’ve gotten to a place, John, where the media is willing to run with unnamed sources, apparently false leaked documents,” the chief of staff said. “We deal with one after the next. I think the media should stop with this un-named-source stuff. Put names on a piece of paper and print it. If people aren’t willing to put their name next to a quote, then the quote shouldn’t be listed, period.”

Trump often mocked the “dishonest” media in his presidential campaign. But since taking office, these denigrations have morphed from crowd-pleasing rhetoric into a strategy seemingly intended to discredit journalists’ unflattering revelations of dysfunction and division in his White House.

The president has regularly dismissed major television networks and newspapers as the “fake news media,” describing them as “lying,” “corrupt,” “failing,” “the enemy” and “the opposition.”

The White House’s attacks on the press have drawn scathing criticism from U.S. politicians, even within Republican ranks.

Lindsey Graham, from South Carolina, said a free press is “worth fighting and dying for.”

He said he believed U.S. media had become too “hysterical” in its reporting of Trump, but added: “The enemies of democracy at the end of the day are not the press. It’s Russia. It’s Iran and radical Islam.”

His comments came a day after John McCain, the veteran Republican from Arizona, said a free press was essential for preserving democracy.

He added: “Without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That’s how dictators get started.”

Meanwhile, it emerged the president plans to sign an executive order Monday enacting a new version of his controversial immigration and travel ban. A draft shows that the administration would try to keep the temporary ban on U.S. entry for citizens of seven Muslimmajority countries.