Trump Spars with Media on his First Days in Office

By BRIANNA DUNN and JEREMY MORALES

President Donald Trump spent his first full day in office the same way he spent much of his campaign- posting on Twitter and sparring with the media. 

While Trump has spent a lot of time on social media threatening and arguing with journalists from multiple news outlets, he wasted no time praising Fox News for their positive coverage and rave reviews of his inaugural speech.

Fox has managed to maintain a peaceful relationship with the Trump administration, until recently when an image comparing the crowd sizes of Obama’s 2009 inauguration and Trump’s 2017 inauguration was released by the New York Times.  

“A fantastic day and evening in Washington D.C. Thank you to @FoxNews and so many other news outlets for the GREAT reviews of the speech!” Trump wrote early Saturday morning.

However, since Inauguration Day, Trump and his staff are fighting all members of the press tooth and nail–Fox News associated or not.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer attacked the media on Saturday for what he called “deliberately false reporting.”

Spicer defended Trump, saying that the media’s reporting of the Inauguration crowd size was completely inaccurate

Despite the failing relationship between Donald Trump and the media during his campaign, Fox News had continued to maintain peace with the president. Journalists from Fox News spent much time praising his speech in the following hours and days. However, things began heating up just two days after he was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. 

Fox aired interviews with Trump supporters, employees, and non-supporters following the inauguration.

Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, spoke with Fox News’ Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. The fiery interview centered around Wallace’s questions regarding the focus of the government in fighting back when critiqued, and Priebus’ insistence that the media is attempting to “delegitimize” Trump.

“There is an obsession by the media to delegitimize this President and we are not going to sit around and let it happen,” said Priebus in the televised show.

CNN’S live stream coverage of the nation’s 45^th president inauguration has also brought forth much debate and speculation regarding Ttump’s crude and demeaning behavior on the campaign trail.

CNN’s Don Lemon said during the inauguration that Ttump’s body language and word choice were eerily similar to his campaign tactics that he said he would leave behind once he is sworn in as the nation’s 45^th president.

“The 45^th president of the United States has shown his remarkable consistency toward themes of hate speech and ignorance and his implicit bias toward the media and American public. With no doubt, do I believe his unorthodox approach has fragmented the GOP beyond repair,” Lemon said.

Loyal viewers of different news stations had similar reactions to Trump’s constant quarreling with the media.

“It’s unnecessary,” said Ashley Nichols, student at Ramapo College. “Trump has a job to do now and instead of fighting with the media, he should be working to prove them wrong.”

While Trump’s team is spending much time defending him and his inauguration, the media is not taking anything – especially what they believe are lies, sitting down.

In an open letter to the president in the Columbia Journalism Review, the press corps reminds Trump that while he can set ground rules for dealing with journalists, they are ready to fire back at anything they find unfair.

“Telling reporters that they won’t get access to something isn’t what we’d prefer, but it’s a challenge we relish,” states the letter, under the byline of CJR editor in chief and publisher Kyle Pope. 

It promises a “united front” when Trump ignores or berates a reporter or a particular news outlet. “We’ll work together on stories when it makes sense, and make sure the world hears when our colleagues write stories of importance.”