U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his attacks against U.S. media, but was warned that his language was "inflammatory" and "dangerous."
"Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, 'Enemy of the People.' Sad!" Trump said in one of a series of tweets against the media.
"Ninety percent of media coverage of my Administration is negative, despite the tremendously positive results we are achieving, it's no surprise that confidence in the media is at an all time low!" Trump insisted, adding that U.S. media have been "driven insane by their Trump Derangement Syndrome."
Sulzberger later issued a statement rebutting Trump's tweets, protesting that under conventional practices, the contents of these conversations should have been off records.
"I told him that although the phrase 'fake news' is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists 'the enemy of the people,'" Sulzberger said.
"I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence," he said.
Sulzberger said that his plea was not on behalf of the New York Times, but rather for Trump to dial down his attacks on U.S. media as a whole.
Trump has repeatedly bashed U.S. media for allegedly "unfair" reports against his administration. He has labeled news outlets with nicknames, and clashed with reporters.
In a most recent confrontation between the White House and the press, a CNN journalist was banned Wednesday from an open press event after she shouted questions at Trump regarding the Russian probe at an earlier event.
The White House Press Office said the journalist's questions were "inappropriate."
