President Trump berated a reporter from The Wall Street Journal aboard Air Force One late Sunday and described the news outlet as “rotten” and bad for the country.
“Who are you with?” Trump asked a reporter who shouted a question in his direction. “Boy, you people treat us so badly.”
The Journal, Trump continued, “has truly gone to hell … a rotten newspaper. You hear me? What I said … it’s a rotten newspaper.”
The president said he wouldn’t answer a question that came from a reporter for the Journal “because it would be wasting my time.”
“The Wall Street Journal is China-oriented,” he said. “And they’re really bad for this country.”
Trump has ridiculed the Journal for months over its coverage of him and staff editorials that have been critical of his policies on trade and other executive actions during his first 100 days in office.
Last month, for example, the Journal’s editorial board wrote that “China called Trump’s bluff and seems to have won this round.”
The president has separately attacked Rupert Murdoch, the Journal’s billionaire owner, calling him a “globalist” who is trying to stand in the way of his agenda.
Trump’s administration has in recent weeks sought to fight back against mainstream media coverage it disagrees with and elevate more conservative and “new media” outlets in press briefings as part of its broader messaging strategy.
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