As if this administration couldn't get any more chaotic, the president is now accusing both the media and intelligence officials of dishonestly working against him, according to Politico. Early Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter (as always) to dismiss several recent allegations that his campaign was in talks with Russia before the election—allegations so damning that Trump's national security adviser had to resign. In his barrage of tweets, Trump attacked The New York Times, as well as cable news networks CNN and MSNBC, calling them "unwatchable" and "fake news." He also said CIA officers who leaked information were unpatriotic.
The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
The barrage of tweets followed reports that former national security adviser Michael Flynn had spoken with Russia before the election about sanctions—an illegal action for a private citizen. Eventually, Flynn was forced to resign after only 24 days in office. Press Secretary Sean Spicer then told the press that Trump had been concerned about Flynn for about weeks, despite Trump himself saying just a few days before he had no idea about the allegations. Then, The New York Times released new reports, alleging other Trump campaign aides were also in close contact with Russian officials.
This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC&@CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
Trump has gone on the defensive, choosing to say in a press conference that Flynn was treated unfairly by the press. In his eyes, all the accusations are somehow supposed to deflect from the mistakes Hillary Clinton made during her campaign. But though Trump accused the "failing"Times and The Washington Post of using illegally obtained intelligence material in their stories, potentially jeopardizing national security, he reportedly held a national security meeting on an open terrace at Mar-a-Lago this past weekend, leaving plenty of room himself for eavesdroppers and national security leaks. The confusing part is figuring out what Trump really means here—if the media's stories aren't true, why did he have to fire Flynn? Is it that the media is making stuff up, or that people on the inside are leaking true information? With Trump, as usual, it's impossible to tell.
Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes&@washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
It's almost overwhelming the amount of things the new administration has put us through. And no. It has not been an entire month. It's just close to it. We still have a long, long way to go.