Donald Trump continues media bashing, says all is well at White House

Though it wasn't clear what exactly Donald Trump was "campaigning" for, he sought to assure his supporters that all was well with his administration.

Washington, Feb 19: Less than a month into his tumultuous presidency, Donald Trump stepped back into familiar turf with a "campaign rally" in Florida where he continued his tirade against "dishonest media" and insisted that his administration was running "so smoothly".

Cheered on by a 9,000-strong crowd packed into an airport hangar in Melbourne, Florida, the President said he wanted speak to his supporters without the filter of "fake news". A visibly frustrated and agitated Trump also vowed to never let the media "get away with lies".

"I will do whatever I can that they don't get away with it," he said, alleging that media has its own agenda. "And their agenda is not your agenda." The rally, similar in style to the ones during his presidential bid, came on the back of an aggressive press conference on Thursday in which Trump embarked on a lengthy tongue-lashing of the news media.

Though it wasn't clear what exactly Trump was "campaigning" for, he sought to assure his supporters that all was well with his administration, rebutting allegations that there were differences within the White House. "You've seen what we've accomplished in a very short period of time. The White House is running so smoothly. So smoothly," he said, repeating his claim that he had inherited "one big mess".

"The dishonest media, which has published one false story after another, with no sources, even though they pretend they have them. They make them up in many cases," he said. "They (media) just don't want to report the truth. And they've been calling us wrong now for two years. They don't get it. But they're starting to get it," he said.

"They have become a big part of the problem. They are part of the corrupt system." But despite "all the lies, misrepresentations and false stories", the media could not defeat him in the election, he said. "We will continue to expose them for what they are. And most importantly, we will continue to win, win, win." It has been a chaotic four weeks for Trump.

The tenure began with a controversy over the size of his inauguration crowd, which was followed by US federal courts halting his executive order that imposed a travel ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The past week also saw a furore over national security adviser Michael Flynn's alleged ties with Russia, culminating in his resignation from the post. Reports have suggested that there are problems within his White House with sharp differences among his key team members.

PTI