Media

Trump: I don’t take questions from CNN

President Trump on Friday at an international press conference lashed out at CNN, declaring that he would not take questions from the network.

CNN correspondent Jim Acosta attempted to interject with a question during a press conference with Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May. 

“Since you attacked CNN can I ask you a question?” Acosta said, referencing an earlier barb from Trump. 

{mosads}“CNN is fake news. I don’t take questions from CNN,” Trump responded.

“Let’s go to a real network,” he added, giving a question to John Roberts of Fox News.

“Well we’re a real network too, sir,” Acosta responded.

Roberts went on to ask about relations between the U.S. and Russia.

At the end of the press conference, Acosta shouted a question to Trump as he walked away from the podium. Acosta asked if Trump would tell Russian President Vladimir Putin to stay out of U.S. elections, to which Trump replied “yes.”

Trump had taken a question from CNN on Thursday at a press conference following the NATO summit in Brussels.

CNN has long been a favorite target for Trump’s criticism of reporting he doesn’t like. He frequently labels the network “fake news.” 

Administration officials have periodically clashed with Acosta. The president refused to take a question from Acosta during a press conference shortly after he took office, and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has ridiculed Acosta during White House press briefings, telling him recently, “I know it’s hard for you to understand even short sentences, I guess.”

Trump has given sit-down interviews mostly to Fox News in the last year. His most recent sit-down interview with a major network came last month, when he spoke with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Prior to that, he sat down with NBC’s Lester Holt in May 2017.

At Friday’s press conference, Trump was unhappy with an NBC reporter who asked if the president’s criticisms of U.S. allies helps Putin.

“That’s such dishonest reporting,” Trump shot back. “Of course it happens to be NBC, which is possibly worse than CNN.”

Updated at 12:37 p.m.

Tags Donald Trump

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