‘Unpopular’ Trump swipes at press

– US President Donald Trump, fresh from a political holiday in Paris, went back on the offensive on Sunday as a new poll showed his popularity dropping amid doubts about Russian election meddling and deepening frustrations over stalled healthcare legislation.

In an early morning tweet, Trump used some of his toughest language against a favoured target, the press, saying: “With all of its phony unnamed sources & highly slanted & even fraudulent report- ing, #Fake News is distorting democracy in our country!”

Trump also sent one of his private lawyers, Jay Sekulow, onto five Sunday talk shows to argue that there was nothing illegal about his eldest son Donald Trump Jnr’s meeting last year with a Russian attorney following a promise of damaging information on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

“What took place at the meeting ... is not a violation of any law, statute or code,” Sekulow told NBC’s Meet the Press.

He repeated an earlier assertion that Trump is not the subject of any current investigation into alleged Russian efforts to tilt last year’s election in the Republican’s favour.

The concerted pushback came as a Washington Post-ABC News poll near the six-month point in Trump’s administration showed him facing significantly declining approval ratings, down from 42% in April to 36% today. Similarly, the president’s disapproval rating has jumped five points to 58%. – AFP