Trump calls nuclear report ‘disgusting’

President suggests NBC should have license challenged

Incensed by a report that he wanted to drastically increase the country’s nuclear arsenal, President Trump said it was “disgusting ” that the news media could “write whatever they want to write.”

“People should look into it,” he said Wednesday.

He said he was not calling for restrictions on the media but merely wants them to “speak more honestly.”

“I’ve seen tremendously dishonest press,” he said.

His comments came hours after he questioned whether NBC and other news networks should have their broadcasting licenses challenged.

“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!” the president tweeted that morning.

The president has fought with news organizations, which receive their licenses through the Federal Communications Commission, over coverage since before he took office.

NBC reported that the presi- dent asked to increase the U.S. nuclear arsenal by nearly tenfold. The report was based on the statements of three officials who said they were in the room when the president purportedly made the request in July. There are no plans to expand the arsenal, NBC News reported.

Defense Secretary James Mattis issued a statement Wednesday that the report was “absolutely false.”

“This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible,” he said.

The administration’s criticism of the media received pushback from former Obama administration officials and journalism organizations.

David Axelrod, who served as an adviser to President Obama, noted that even when the White House faced coverage it didn’t like, it didn’t threaten the organizations.

“There were times in WH when we disliked coverage,” he tweeted. “Never did we suggest denying broadcaster licenses. Come on, POTUS. Is this Russia or USA?”

The National Association of Broadcasters said the First Amendment is a “cornerstone of our democracy.”

“It is contrary to this fundamental right for any government official to threaten the revocation of an FCC license simply because of a disagreement with the reporting of a journalist,” NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith said in a statement.