U.S. politics
Trump escalates criticism of news media
President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of the news media Friday, taking direct aim this time at the use of anonymous sources.
Reporters “shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name,” he declared, just hours after members of his own staff held a media briefing and refused to allow their names to be used.
“A source says that Donald Trump is a horrible, horrible human being, let them say it to my face,” Trump told the Conservative Political Action Committee. “Let there be no more sources.”
Members of Trump’s White House team regularly demand anonymity when talking to reporters.
Speaking to a large crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump said he wasn’t against all media, just “the fake news media or press.”
“I’m against the people that make up stories and make up sources,” he said. “They shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name.”
The president has chafed at a number of anonymously sourced stories, including numerous reports describing contacts between his campaign officials and the Russians, which the White House has sharply disputed.
“The fake news doesn’t tell the truth,” Trump insisted. “It doesn’t represent the people. It will never represent the people and we’re going to do something about it.”
It was a triumphal return to CPAC for Trump, who was warmly welcomed by a crowd that loves pushback against the mainstream media.
After his broadside on the press, Trump turned to a recitation of his agenda, promising bold action on health care, trade, energy policy and more.
“One by one, we’re checking off the promises we made to the American people,” he said, telling the group “I will not disappoint you.”
Trump told the conservatives that the health care law he inherited from President Barack Obama threatens to bring about “total catastrophe,” reiterating his promise to repeal and replace it.
He highlighted his efforts to get tough on illegal immigration, saying that “as we speak today, immigration officers are finding gang members, drug dealers and criminal aliens and throwing them the hell out.”
He promised changes to the welfare system, saying, “It’s time for all Americans to get off welfare and get back to work,” adding that: “You’re going to love it.”
While conservatives aren’t always in sync with Trump’s views, they’re happy to have a scrapper in the White House who’s often on their side.
“How good it feels to have somebody lead our country who knows how to fight,” American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp told the crowd in introducing Trump.
Trump recalled his past visits at CPAC with nostalgia, saying he’d first appeared with no notes and little preparation and gotten a strong reception that helped to put him on the path to the presidency.
“I loved the commotion ... And then they did these polls where I went through the roof and I wasn’t even running, right? But it gave me an idea.”