President’s attacks on US press rebuked by 350 newspapers

DONALD TRUMP has called America’s press “the opposition party” after more than 300 newspapers came together to rebuke his attacks on the media.

The US president accused The Boston Globe, which called for the nationwide denouncement, of being “in collusion” with other papers.

The paper had pledged to write an editorial “on the dangers of the administration’s assault on the press” yesterday, and asked others to do the same.

Some 350 papers heeded the call, including The New York Times and the protrump New York Post.

Waking up to the editorials, the president used Twitter to present himself as at war with the press: “THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS THE OPPOSITION PARTY. It is very bad for our Great Country .... BUT WE ARE WINNING!”, he said.

Mr Trump’s own campaign team is currently being investigated for possible collusion with Russia in the election.

In a subsequent tweet, the president said he supported “true FREEDOM OF THE PRESS” but repeated accusations that most reporters were “fake” or “pushing a political agenda”.

The unified response in the editorials came after Mr Trump announced he had revoked the security clearance of John Brennan, former CIA director and a vocal critic of the president.

Mr Trump has also said the security clearances of several other former intelligence officials, including James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, and James Comey, the EXFBI director, are “under review”.

All of the individuals have publicly rebuked the president or are people who Mr Trump appears to believe are against him.

Democrats have called it an “enemies list,” a reference to the Nixon White House, which kept a list of President Nixon’s political opponents to be targeted with punitive measures.

Mr Brennan, who has served three presidents, has accused Mr Trump’s campaign of colluding with Russia to sway the election and claims the president is desperate to end the special counsel’s investigation.

Mr Trump himself drew a direct connection between the removal of Mr Brennan’s clearance and the Russia probe, telling The Wall Street Journal the investigation was a “sham,” and “these people led it!”

It was a swift departure from the official explanation given by the White House on Wednesday, which cited “the risks” posed by what it termed Mr Brennan’s “erratic conduct and behaviour”.