Government & Communications

President Donald Trump sent out a couple of tweets Oct 29 pushing back on the idea that he’s called the media the “enemy of the people.” It’s the “fake news” media, he specified. “A very big difference.” The first time that President Trump used the phrase, “enemy of the American people,” he identified the New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, and CNN. He’s also called the Washington Post “fake news” several times. In a Sept 16 tweet, he characterized all of mainstream media as “fake news.” 

President Donald Trump complained about the news coverage he has received related to the alleged pipe bomber, saying a different standard was applied to then-President Barack Obama when nine black worshipers were killed at a church in Charleston (SC) during his tenure. “I was in the headline of The Washington Post, my name associated with this crazy bomber,” President Trump said.

President Donald Trump lashed out anew at the news media, calling it “the true Enemy of the People,” and he again blamed what he called “fraudulent” reporting for anger that has led to a spate of recent violence in the country. "There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news. The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly.

“Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the current spate of Bombs and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma City bombing, yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, ‘it’s just not Presidential!’” So began Day 645 of a presidency that has made denigrating the news media one of its identifying features. After mocking and insulting penned-in reporters on the campaign trail, President Doanld Trump continued going after journalists the day after he was sworn in, over the size of his Inauguration Day crowd.

China Telecom, a state-owned telecommunications company, has been "hijacking the vital internet backbone of western countries," according to researchers from the US Naval War College and Tel Aviv University. China Telecom, the country's third-largest telco and internet service provider, has had a presence inside North American networks since the early 2000s when it created its first point-of-presence (PoP).

President Donald Trump accused Twitter of deleting large swaths of his followers from the social media platform, deriding the company for slow growth and accusing it of ideological bias despite providing little evidence for his claims. "Twitter has removed many people from my account and, more importantly, they have seemingly done something that makes it much harder to join - they have stifled growth to a point where it is obvious to all. A few weeks ago it was a Rocket Ship, now it is a Blimp! Total Bias?" the President tweeted. Twitter did not directly rebut President Trump’s claim.

President Donald Trump’s reported refusal to give up his personal iPhone demonstrates the complications of keeping government officials secure at a time when they are increasingly tied to their phones by the time they take office.

In moments of national crisis, presidents typically reach for unifying themes. But as pipe bombs are delivered to American around the country, President Donald Trump chose confrontation over conciliation.

President Donald Trump doubled down on blaming the media for the nation’s incivility, as suspicious packages sent by a suspected serial bomber continued to target President Trump’s outspoken critics. “A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News,” the president said. “It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description.

More than 200 journalists condemned President Donald Trump’s “sustained pattern” of attacks on the free press in an open letter, describing his behavior as “un-American and utterly unlawful and unseemly for the President of the United States and leader of the free world." “Trump’s condoning of political violence is part of a sustained pattern of attack on a free press — which includes labeling any reportage he doesn’t like as ‘fake news’ and barring reporters and news organizations whom he wishes to punish from press briefings and events,” said the letter, which as of the morning of Oct 25