Trump blasts editorials on free press, bemoans ‘collusion’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday assailed the news media for editorials in newspapers across the country, including The Dispatch, that championed the freedom of the press, a unified response in the face of the president’s relentless attacks.

In Twitter posts, Trump said The Boston Globe was “in collusion” with other newspapers for leading the effort.

Trump also added “PROVE IT!” in one of the messages, though it was not clear what he meant.

“The Boston Globe, which was sold to the the Failing New York Times for 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS (plus 800 million dollars in losses & investment), or 2.1 BILLION DOLLARS, was then sold by the Times for 1 DOLLAR. Now the Globe is in COLLUSION with other papers on free press. PROVE IT!” Trump wrote.

In a subsequent tweet, he wrote that he is in favor of “true FREEDOM OF THE PRESS” but said most of the news it produces is fake or pushes a political agenda.

The president has called the press the “enemy of the people” and rallied supporters to speak out against the media, which some fear could lead to violence against journalists. This month, a senior editor at the Globe proposed that newspapers publish editorials about “the dangers of the administration’s assault on the press.”

Speaking Thursday to reporters before a Cabinet meeting, Trump alluded to the editorials.

“If you’d like, you can stay. If you’d like, you can leave,” Trump told reporters. “Freedom of the press.”

The Senate on Thursday passed a resolution in support of press freedoms, saying “the press is not the enemy of the people.”

Trump took a swipe at The Globe by noting that The New York Times Co. had sold the paper at a big loss, though he incorrectly said the price had been $1. The Times Co. sold the Globe and other properties for $70 million in 2013, after having paid $1.1 billion two decades before.