🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 51 (from laksa008)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa051.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/11/politics/enemy-of-the-people-jim-acosta-donald-trump\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/11/politics/enemy-of-the-people-jim-acosta-donald-trump\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/06\/11\/politics\/enemy-of-the-people-jim-acosta-donald-trump","crawl_time":1775637185,"first_indexed_time":1560387809,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,cnn!www,\/2019\/06\/11\/politics\/enemy-of-the-people-jim-acosta-donald-trump s443","src_root_hash":"2312100192101524051","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"How Trump’s ‘fake news’ rhetoric has gotten out of control | CNN Politics","meta_descriptions":["It was February 16, 2017, and President Donald J. Trump had just held a news conference in the White House East Room to confront questions about his decision to fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. As he was jousting with reporters over the still unfolding details of the Russia investigation, Trump offered a new twist on his recent line of attack on the press."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Adapted from Jim Acosta’s “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America” set for release Tuesday\nWashington\nCNN\n — \nIt was February 16, 2017, and President\nDonald J. Trump had just held a news conference in the White House East Room\nto confront questions about his decision to fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. As he was jousting with reporters over the still unfolding details of the\nRussia investigation\n, Trump offered a new twist on his recent line of attack on the press.\n“I’m changing it from fake news, though,” Trump said in response to a question from me.\n“Very fake news,” the President added\n, to laughter in the room. Trump has his share of flaws but comic timing isn’t one of them.\nAd Feedback\nAd Feedback\nLater in the afternoon, the phone rang. It was\none of the President’s most trusted aides, Hope Hicks\n.\n“I wanted to let you know that I spoke with the President and he wants you to know that he thought you were very professional today,” Hicks said.\n“He said, ‘Jim gets it,’ ” she added.\nHicks had offered an insight into Trump’s thinking. When the President called the press “fake news,” Hicks was essentially saying this was just an expression, part of the act, something I apparently “get.” Other Trump aides and advisers confirmed this assessment.\nVideo Ad Feedback\nJim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People'\n05:18\n• Source:\nCNN\nJim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People'\n05:18\nBut what may have begun as something of a reality TV-style parlor trick has mutated into a full-blown assault on the American free press, one that the President apparently can no longer control.\nThe following day, Trump demonstrated he was fully capable of escalating his rhetoric aimed at the news media. It was a dark and dangerous tweet that may well define much of his presidency.\n“The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” he wrote.\nMore than 30 current and former administration officials, as well as other outside Trump advisers and high-ranking GOP officials, spoke with me for my book\n“The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,”\nset for release Tuesday. Other officials from the administration, most notably Trump and White House press secretary Sanders, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.\nAsked where the term “the enemy of the people” came from, three former and current senior White House officials pointed the finger at the conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, an ex-West Wing strategist himself, as having coined the villainous label. Yet, in an interview, Bannon said that’s not quite the case. The former Breitbart executive insisted he and Trump had conjured up the anti-press catchphrase together.\n“I think it’s safe to say that we both came up with it in discussion,” Bannon said, making sure Trump received part of the credit.\n“I think I threw out ‘opposition media party’ first, and then he threw out ‘fake news is the enemy of the people,’ ” Bannon added, referring to his own description of journalists as the “opposition” during the early days of the Trump administration.\nOPINION: Sam Donaldson: What Jim Acosta is doing is exactly right\nDiscounting the notion that such rhetoric could lead to violence against journalists, Bannon was careful to draw what he thought was an important distinction, noting that Trump doesn’t regard all journalists as the “enemy.” Only those reporters seen by the President as purveyors of “fake news” fit into that category, Bannon continued.\nWhite House counselor Kellyanne Conway, in an interview for my book, said she did not agree with the use of that expression.\n“It’s fraught. It’s danger –, ” Conway stopped midsentence, catching herself before saying “dangerous.”\n“I think calling the President a Russian asset is dangerous,” she added.\n“I don’t use that phrase. Yet there is ample evidence that the media are often the enemy of the relevant,” she said.\nVideo Ad Feedback\nTrump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange\n02:58\n• Source:\nCNN\nTrump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange\n02:58\nOne senior White House official rejected Bannon’s comments, saying he should be taking full responsibility for the “enemy of the people” term.\n” ‘Enemy of the people’ was first said in this White House by somebody who spent all of his time talking to the media,” the senior official said, referring to Bannon. “It’s absolutely Bannon.”\nStill, the original purpose of the expression was to taunt members of the press, not trigger threatening reactions from Trump supporters, the official said.\n“It’s meant to incite the media. Not the people,” the official continued.\nBannon explained that Trump’s use of the “enemy” label should be viewed as part of a larger media strategy aimed at mastering the nation’s nonstop political news cycle, the same approach that allowed Trump to cut through 16 GOP presidential candidates like a “scythe through grass,” as Bannon put it.\nStill, some of the President’s supporters have lashed out at the press after absorbing this volatile rhetoric, behaving in ways that have left journalists feeling endangered. This phenomenon can be seen in the death threats streaming into the social media accounts of news anchors and reporters who cover Trump on a regular basis. Popular apps such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have done little to stem the flow of these violent messages.\n“If Trump is removed from office in any way, you are dead,” read one message posted on my Instagram account.\nSelf-described Trump supporters have left messages recommending that I be castrated, decapitated and set on fire. Theirs was the same kind of hatred that had driven Trump supporter\nCesar Sayoc to send pipe bombs to CNN\nand Democratic targets shortly before the midterm elections in 2018. His vivid threats directed at me on Twitter went undetected until authorities captured him.\nHandling falsehoods and ‘alternative facts’\nTrump semantics: 'alternative facts'\n00:19\n• Source:\nCNN\nTrump semantics: 'alternative facts'\n00:19\nTrump’s unprecedented verbal attacks on the press, his chaotic management style and his assaults on the truth have often confounded his own advisers, placing some members of his beleaguered team in the position of explaining the President’s outright falsehoods.\nAfter then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer falsely claimed in January 2017 that Trump had drawn the largest inauguration crowd in US history, Conway came to the spokesman’s defense with a catchphrase that she now regrets.\n” ‘Alternative facts’ was a slip of the tongue. I rushed through ‘alternative information and additional facts,’ and it got mushed together,” Conway said. “It was never meant to be Orwellian or to excuse lies.”\nBut Conway and Spicer had their stumbles as they were attempting to explain outbursts from a President who excelled at creating disorder. As a former senior White House official said, much of Trump’s chaotic behavior was by design.\n“He rules by instability. He wins by making everything around him unstable,” the official told me. That way, the official said, Trump controls the chaos.\nIntense frustration with Trump’s management style has also led some senior White House and administration officials to arrive at damning assessments of the President.\n“The President’s insane,” one senior official said, in a moment of exasperation with Trump’s behavior behind the scenes.\nAsked what the aide meant, the official complained Trump failed to understand the constraints on the executive branch built into the US Constitution by the nation’s Founding Fathers, the guardrails installed to protect American democracy from the possibility of a rogue president.\nWhat were the rules for appointing Cabinet officials and how long can acting secretaries stay on the job, Trump wanted to know, according to the official.\nUnpredictable behavior abroad and at home\nUnable to load video\nPlease try again later.\nError occurred while fetching labs\nVideo Ad Feedback\nCooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin\n05:15\n• Source:\nCNN\nCooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin\n05:15\nTrump’s behavior around foreign leaders, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, also puzzled senior members of his national security team.\nAround the time of Putin’s reelection in March 2018, Trump wanted to send the Russian leader a news clipping, signed by him, to wish the ex-KGB agent good luck, a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the situation said.\n“Vladimir, you’re going to do great,” Trump was going to tell Putin, according to the official, who viewed the clipping but cautioned it was not certain whether the message was ultimately sent off to the Russian President. Still, the official raised concerns about Trump’s gesture with other aides, worried that the clipping, should it somehow be released, could be an embarrassment for Trump and prompt more questions about the relationship between the two leaders.\n“Other people were aware,” the official said.\nThe official could not explain why Trump was so cozy with Putin.\n“I can’t answer that question,” the official confessed.\nTrump’s unpredictable behavior with foreign leaders was a constant source of consternation for former chief of staff John Kelly, who did not hide his unhappiness from other West Wing aides.\n“You didn’t leave him alone, did you?” Kelly once blurted out to a senior aide, the official said.\nOther officials in the administration questioned Trump’s handling of his domestic agenda, such as his crackdown on migrants crossing the border with Mexico.\nIn a rare public expression of concern with an administration initiative, Conway said she disagreed with the “zero-tolerance” policy that resulted in family separations at the border in 2018.\n“As a mother, as a Catholic, as a person of conscience, I don’t want children ripped from their parents,” Conway said with regret, before adding she also didn’t want to see families taken advantage of by “smugglers and coyotes,” a comment more in line with the administration’s talking points on immigration.\nIn the two years since Trump’s election, one constant of his time in office has been his rallies. During the 2016 campaign, Trump began his assault on the media, referring to news outlets as “dishonest” and “disgusting.” That routine has continued right into Trump’s presidency as he has excited his base with rhetoric steeped in hostility toward journalists. Some of the President’s supporters have joined in on the act, hurling insults at reporters inside the press filing spaces at the rallies.\n“You’re scum. You’re a scumbag,” yelled one man repeatedly for approximately 30 minutes at a rally last year in Nashville.\n“Out, out, out, out,” shrieked an elderly woman at a rally later in the year in Columbia, South Carolina, whipping the crowd of thousands into a frenzy as she insisted that the CNN crew be ejected from the venue.\nAnother woman at the Columbia rally warned me to tone down my questions to both the President and press secretary Sanders or face the consequences.\n“What’s going to happen is we’re going to end up with a civil war. You’re going to have people shooting people,” warned the woman.\nAt another rally a few weeks later in Tampa, Florida, large group of Trump supporters screamed and flashed middle fingers at me. Trump later retweeted a video of the incident, catapulting its viewership into the millions. The episode was followed by a string of disturbing messages left on my social media accounts.\n“Hopefully he gets beaten to death at one soon,” read one message left on my Instagram account.","attrs_markdown":"Thank You\\!\n\nYour effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much appreciated.\n\nClose\n\nAd Feedback\n\n[Politics](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics)\n\n[Elections 2026](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/election\/2026)\n\n[Trump](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/president-donald-trump-47)\n\n[Facts First](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/fact-check)\n\n[CNN Polls](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/polling)\n\n[Redistricting Tracker](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/state-redistricting-maps-vis\/index.html)\n\n[Epstein Files](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/epstein-files)\n\n[More]()\n\n[Elections 2026](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/election\/2026)   [Trump](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/president-donald-trump-47)   [Facts First](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/fact-check)   [CNN Polls](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/polling)   [Redistricting Tracker](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/state-redistricting-maps-vis\/index.html)   [Epstein Files](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/epstein-files)\n\n[Watch](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/subscription\/all-access)   [Listen](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/audio)\n\nSubscribe\n\nSign in\n\nMy Account\n\n- [Settings](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/account\/settings)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters)\n- [Topics you follow](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/follow?iid=fw_var-nav)\n- [Sign out](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/06\/11\/politics\/enemy-of-the-people-jim-acosta-donald-trump)\n\nYour CNN account Sign in to your CNN account\n***\nSign in\n\nMy Account\n\n- [Settings](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/account\/settings)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters)\n- [Topics you follow](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/follow?iid=fw_var-nav)\n- [Sign out](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/06\/11\/politics\/enemy-of-the-people-jim-acosta-donald-trump)\n\nYour CNN account Sign in to your CNN account\n***\n[Listen](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/audio)   [Watch](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/subscription\/all-access)\n***\nEdition\n\n[US](https:\/\/us.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n\n[International](https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n\n[Arabic](https:\/\/arabic.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n\n[Español](https:\/\/cnnespanol.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n\nEdition\n\n- [US](https:\/\/us.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n- [International](https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n- [Arabic](https:\/\/arabic.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n- [Español](https:\/\/cnnespanol.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n***\n[Elections 2026](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/election\/2026)\n\n[Trump](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/president-donald-trump-47)\n\n[Facts First](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/fact-check)\n\n[CNN Polls](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/polling)\n\n[Redistricting Tracker](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/state-redistricting-maps-vis\/index.html)\n\n[Epstein Files](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/epstein-files)\n***\nFollow CNN Politics\n\nDownload the CNN App\n***\n\n- [US](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us)\n  - 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[Subscribe](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/subscription?source=sub_web_footersubnav-link)\n  - [Photos](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/photos)\n  - [Investigations](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us\/cnn-investigates)\n  - [CNN Profiles](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles)\n  - [CNN Leadership](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/cnn-leadership)\n  - [CNN Newsletters](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters)\n  - [Work for CNN](https:\/\/careers.wbd.com\/cnnjobs)\n***\nDownload the CNN App\n\n# How Trump’s ‘fake news’ rhetoric has gotten out of control\n[![Jim Acosta](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/jim-acosta-profile)\n\nBy [Jim Acosta](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/jim-acosta-profile), CNN\n\n8 min read\n\nUpdated 2:12 PM EDT, Tue June 11, 2019\n\nLink Copied\\!\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nAcosta: I wanted to send a message defending the press\n\n02:02   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nPolitics of the Day  9 videos\n\n![ebenzer warnock.png](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nSen. Raphael Warnock's Easter message: We have a shot at working with God to write 'a new chapter for human possibility'\n\n17:09\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![ARLINGTON, VA - MARCH 03: Voting booths sit empty midway through the day of the Democratic presidential primary elections at the Sleepy Hollow Elementary School polling location on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. 1,357 Democratic delegates are at stake as voters cast their ballots in 14 states and American Samoa on what is known as Super Tuesday. (Photo by Samuel Corum\/Getty Images)](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nCNN poll shows Democrats hold early advantage in midterms\n\n00:49\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![image.png](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nTrump gives an Oval Office primetime address on the war with Iran\n\n05:04\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![Jim Acosta June 9 2019 01](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nAcosta: I wanted to send a message defending the press\n\n02:02\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 6, 2026. REUTERS\/Kevin Lamarque](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nSee Trump’s social media post agreeing to two week ceasefire\n\n03:20\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 06: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 06, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump spoke about the successful military mission to rescue a weapons systems officer whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down in Iran. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nTrump threatens to jail a journalist over Iran rescue ‘leak’\n\n01:19\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![118618\\_TrumpArtemisIICall digvid.jpg](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nArtemis II shares laugh with Trump\n\n00:45\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![20260405-gps\\_split 3 .jpg](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nAnalysts react to Trump’s social media post on Iran\n\n05:02\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![SciuttoLatest thumb.jpg](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nHow the US military rescued the fighter jet crew member who crashed in Iran\n\n01:08\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![ebenzer warnock.png](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nSen. Raphael Warnock's Easter message: We have a shot at working with God to write 'a new chapter for human possibility'\n\n17:09\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![ARLINGTON, VA - MARCH 03: Voting booths sit empty midway through the day of the Democratic presidential primary elections at the Sleepy Hollow Elementary School polling location on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. 1,357 Democratic delegates are at stake as voters cast their ballots in 14 states and American Samoa on what is known as Super Tuesday. (Photo by Samuel Corum\/Getty Images)](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nCNN poll shows Democrats hold early advantage in midterms\n\n00:49\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![image.png](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nTrump gives an Oval Office primetime address on the war with Iran\n\n05:04\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![Jim Acosta June 9 2019 01](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nAcosta: I wanted to send a message defending the press\n\n02:02\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 6, 2026. REUTERS\/Kevin Lamarque](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nSee Trump’s social media post agreeing to two week ceasefire\n\n03:20\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 06: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 06, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump spoke about the successful military mission to rescue a weapons systems officer whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down in Iran. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nTrump threatens to jail a journalist over Iran rescue ‘leak’\n\n01:19\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nSee more videos\n\n*Adapted from Jim Acosta’s “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America” set for release Tuesday*\n\nWashington\n\nCNN\n\n—\n\nIt was February 16, 2017, and President [Donald J. Trump had just held a news conference in the White House East Room](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/02\/16\/politics\/donald-trump-michael-flynn-sanctions\/index.html) to confront questions about his decision to fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. As he was jousting with reporters over the still unfolding details of the [Russia investigation](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/04\/18\/politics\/full-mueller-report-pdf\/index.html), Trump offered a new twist on his recent line of attack on the press.\n\n“I’m changing it from fake news, though,” Trump said in response to a question from me.\n\n[“Very fake news,” the President added](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/01\/26\/politics\/trump-fake-news-mueller-analysis\/index.html), to laughter in the room. Trump has his share of flaws but comic timing isn’t one of them.\n\nAd Feedback\n\nAd Feedback\n\nLater in the afternoon, the phone rang. It was [one of the President’s most trusted aides, Hope Hicks](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/11\/26\/politics\/hope-hicks-donald-trump-white-house\/index.html).\n\n“I wanted to let you know that I spoke with the President and he wants you to know that he thought you were very professional today,” Hicks said.\n\n“He said, ‘Jim gets it,’ ” she added.\n\nHicks had offered an insight into Trump’s thinking. When the President called the press “fake news,” Hicks was essentially saying this was just an expression, part of the act, something I apparently “get.” Other Trump aides and advisers confirmed this assessment.\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nJim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People'\n\n05:18   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nJim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People'\n\n05:18\n\nBut what may have begun as something of a reality TV-style parlor trick has mutated into a full-blown assault on the American free press, one that the President apparently can no longer control.\n\nThe following day, Trump demonstrated he was fully capable of escalating his rhetoric aimed at the news media. It was a dark and dangerous tweet that may well define much of his presidency.\n\n“The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” he wrote.\n\n> > The FAKE NEWS media (failing [@nytimes](https:\/\/twitter.com\/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), [@NBCNews](https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBCNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), [@ABC](https:\/\/twitter.com\/ABC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), [@CBS](https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), [@CNN](https:\/\/twitter.com\/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People\\!\n> > \n> > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [February 17, 2017](https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/832708293516632065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)\n\nMore than 30 current and former administration officials, as well as other outside Trump advisers and high-ranking GOP officials, spoke with me for my book *“The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,”* set for release Tuesday. Other officials from the administration, most notably Trump and White House press secretary Sanders, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.\n\nAsked where the term “the enemy of the people” came from, three former and current senior White House officials pointed the finger at the conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, an ex-West Wing strategist himself, as having coined the villainous label. Yet, in an interview, Bannon said that’s not quite the case. The former Breitbart executive insisted he and Trump had conjured up the anti-press catchphrase together.\n\n“I think it’s safe to say that we both came up with it in discussion,” Bannon said, making sure Trump received part of the credit.\n\n“I think I threw out ‘opposition media party’ first, and then he threw out ‘fake news is the enemy of the people,’ ” Bannon added, referring to his own description of journalists as the “opposition” during the early days of the Trump administration.\n\n[OPINION: Sam Donaldson: What Jim Acosta is doing is exactly right](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/06\/11\/opinions\/jim-acosta-book-trump-press-sam-donaldson\/index.html)\n\nDiscounting the notion that such rhetoric could lead to violence against journalists, Bannon was careful to draw what he thought was an important distinction, noting that Trump doesn’t regard all journalists as the “enemy.” Only those reporters seen by the President as purveyors of “fake news” fit into that category, Bannon continued.\n\nWhite House counselor Kellyanne Conway, in an interview for my book, said she did not agree with the use of that expression.\n\n“It’s fraught. It’s danger –, ” Conway stopped midsentence, catching herself before saying “dangerous.”\n\n“I think calling the President a Russian asset is dangerous,” she added.\n\n“I don’t use that phrase. Yet there is ample evidence that the media are often the enemy of the relevant,” she said.\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nTrump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange\n\n02:58   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nTrump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange\n\n02:58\n\nOne senior White House official rejected Bannon’s comments, saying he should be taking full responsibility for the “enemy of the people” term.\n\n” ‘Enemy of the people’ was first said in this White House by somebody who spent all of his time talking to the media,” the senior official said, referring to Bannon. “It’s absolutely Bannon.”\n\nStill, the original purpose of the expression was to taunt members of the press, not trigger threatening reactions from Trump supporters, the official said.\n\n“It’s meant to incite the media. Not the people,” the official continued.\n\nBannon explained that Trump’s use of the “enemy” label should be viewed as part of a larger media strategy aimed at mastering the nation’s nonstop political news cycle, the same approach that allowed Trump to cut through 16 GOP presidential candidates like a “scythe through grass,” as Bannon put it.\n\nStill, some of the President’s supporters have lashed out at the press after absorbing this volatile rhetoric, behaving in ways that have left journalists feeling endangered. This phenomenon can be seen in the death threats streaming into the social media accounts of news anchors and reporters who cover Trump on a regular basis. Popular apps such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have done little to stem the flow of these violent messages.\n\n“If Trump is removed from office in any way, you are dead,” read one message posted on my Instagram account.\n\nSelf-described Trump supporters have left messages recommending that I be castrated, decapitated and set on fire. Theirs was the same kind of hatred that had driven Trump supporter [Cesar Sayoc to send pipe bombs to CNN](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/10\/26\/media\/cesar-sayoc-social-media-cnn-attacks\/index.html) and Democratic targets shortly before the midterm elections in 2018. His vivid threats directed at me on Twitter went undetected until authorities captured him.\n\n## Handling falsehoods and ‘alternative facts’\nTrump semantics: 'alternative facts'\n\n00:19   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nTrump semantics: 'alternative facts'\n\n00:19\n\nTrump’s unprecedented verbal attacks on the press, his chaotic management style and his assaults on the truth have often confounded his own advisers, placing some members of his beleaguered team in the position of explaining the President’s outright falsehoods.\n\nAfter then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer falsely claimed in January 2017 that Trump had drawn the largest inauguration crowd in US history, Conway came to the spokesman’s defense with a catchphrase that she now regrets.\n\n” ‘Alternative facts’ was a slip of the tongue. I rushed through ‘alternative information and additional facts,’ and it got mushed together,” Conway said. “It was never meant to be Orwellian or to excuse lies.”\n\nBut Conway and Spicer had their stumbles as they were attempting to explain outbursts from a President who excelled at creating disorder. As a former senior White House official said, much of Trump’s chaotic behavior was by design.\n\n“He rules by instability. He wins by making everything around him unstable,” the official told me. That way, the official said, Trump controls the chaos.\n\nIntense frustration with Trump’s management style has also led some senior White House and administration officials to arrive at damning assessments of the President.\n\n“The President’s insane,” one senior official said, in a moment of exasperation with Trump’s behavior behind the scenes.\n\nAsked what the aide meant, the official complained Trump failed to understand the constraints on the executive branch built into the US Constitution by the nation’s Founding Fathers, the guardrails installed to protect American democracy from the possibility of a rogue president.\n\nWhat were the rules for appointing Cabinet officials and how long can acting secretaries stay on the job, Trump wanted to know, according to the official.\n\n## Unpredictable behavior abroad and at home\n**Unable to load video**\n\nPlease try again later.\n\nError occurred while fetching labs\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nCooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin\n\n05:15   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nCooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin\n\n05:15\n\nTrump’s behavior around foreign leaders, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, also puzzled senior members of his national security team.\n\nAround the time of Putin’s reelection in March 2018, Trump wanted to send the Russian leader a news clipping, signed by him, to wish the ex-KGB agent good luck, a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the situation said.\n\n“Vladimir, you’re going to do great,” Trump was going to tell Putin, according to the official, who viewed the clipping but cautioned it was not certain whether the message was ultimately sent off to the Russian President. Still, the official raised concerns about Trump’s gesture with other aides, worried that the clipping, should it somehow be released, could be an embarrassment for Trump and prompt more questions about the relationship between the two leaders.\n\n“Other people were aware,” the official said.\n\nThe official could not explain why Trump was so cozy with Putin.\n\n“I can’t answer that question,” the official confessed.\n\nTrump’s unpredictable behavior with foreign leaders was a constant source of consternation for former chief of staff John Kelly, who did not hide his unhappiness from other West Wing aides.\n\n“You didn’t leave him alone, did you?” Kelly once blurted out to a senior aide, the official said.\n\nOther officials in the administration questioned Trump’s handling of his domestic agenda, such as his crackdown on migrants crossing the border with Mexico.\n\nIn a rare public expression of concern with an administration initiative, Conway said she disagreed with the “zero-tolerance” policy that resulted in family separations at the border in 2018.\n\n“As a mother, as a Catholic, as a person of conscience, I don’t want children ripped from their parents,” Conway said with regret, before adding she also didn’t want to see families taken advantage of by “smugglers and coyotes,” a comment more in line with the administration’s talking points on immigration.\n\nIn the two years since Trump’s election, one constant of his time in office has been his rallies. During the 2016 campaign, Trump began his assault on the media, referring to news outlets as “dishonest” and “disgusting.” That routine has continued right into Trump’s presidency as he has excited his base with rhetoric steeped in hostility toward journalists. Some of the President’s supporters have joined in on the act, hurling insults at reporters inside the press filing spaces at the rallies.\n\n“You’re scum. You’re a scumbag,” yelled one man repeatedly for approximately 30 minutes at a rally last year in Nashville.\n\n“Out, out, out, out,” shrieked an elderly woman at a rally later in the year in Columbia, South Carolina, whipping the crowd of thousands into a frenzy as she insisted that the CNN crew be ejected from the venue.\n\nAnother woman at the Columbia rally warned me to tone down my questions to both the President and press secretary Sanders or face the consequences.\n\n“What’s going to happen is we’re going to end up with a civil war. You’re going to have people shooting people,” warned the woman.\n\nAt another rally a few weeks later in Tampa, Florida, large group of Trump supporters screamed and flashed middle fingers at me. Trump later retweeted a video of the incident, catapulting its viewership into the millions. The episode was followed by a string of disturbing messages left on my social media accounts.\n\n“Hopefully he gets beaten to death at one soon,” read one message left on my Instagram account.\n\nAd Feedback\n\nAd Feedback\n\nAd Feedback\n\nSubscribe\n\nSign in\n\nMy Account\n\n- [Settings](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/account\/settings)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters)\n- [Topics you follow](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/follow?iid=fw_var-nav)\n- [Sign out](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/06\/11\/politics\/enemy-of-the-people-jim-acosta-donald-trump)\n\nYour CNN account Sign in to your CNN account\n***\n[Listen](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/audio)   [Watch](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/watch)\n***\n- [US](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us)\n  - [Crime & Justice](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us\/crime-and-justice)\n  - [Immigration](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us\/immigration)\n  - [Education](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us\/education)\n  - [Transportation](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us\/transportation)\n  - [Race & Identity](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us\/race-and-identity)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world)\n  - 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A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.   \n CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.\n\n## Download the CNN app\nScan the QR code to download the CNN app on Google Play.\n\n![Scan the QR code to download the CNN app from Google Play.](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/google-play-cnn-app-qr-code.png)\n\n## Download the CNN app\nScan the QR code to download the CNN app from the Apple Store.\n\n![Scan the QR code to download the CNN app from the Apple Store.](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/app-store-cnn-app-qr-code.png)\n\n![CNN Logo](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn.svg)\n\n## Legal Terms and Privacy\nBy clicking Agree, you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and agree to the collection and use of your information by cookies and similar technologies, as set forth in our Privacy Policy.\n\nBy clicking \"Agree\", you have read and agree to the [Terms of Use](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/terms) and agree to the collection and use of your information by cookies and similar technologies, as set forth in our [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/privacy).\n\n[Agree](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/06\/11\/politics\/enemy-of-the-people-jim-acosta-donald-trump)","attrs_readable_markdown":"*Adapted from Jim Acosta’s “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America” set for release Tuesday*\n\nWashington CNN —\n\nIt was February 16, 2017, and President [Donald J. Trump had just held a news conference in the White House East Room](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/02\/16\/politics\/donald-trump-michael-flynn-sanctions\/index.html) to confront questions about his decision to fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. As he was jousting with reporters over the still unfolding details of the [Russia investigation](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/04\/18\/politics\/full-mueller-report-pdf\/index.html), Trump offered a new twist on his recent line of attack on the press.\n\n“I’m changing it from fake news, though,” Trump said in response to a question from me.\n\n[“Very fake news,” the President added](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/01\/26\/politics\/trump-fake-news-mueller-analysis\/index.html), to laughter in the room. Trump has his share of flaws but comic timing isn’t one of them.\n\nAd Feedback\n\nAd Feedback\n\nLater in the afternoon, the phone rang. It was [one of the President’s most trusted aides, Hope Hicks](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/11\/26\/politics\/hope-hicks-donald-trump-white-house\/index.html).\n\n“I wanted to let you know that I spoke with the President and he wants you to know that he thought you were very professional today,” Hicks said.\n\n“He said, ‘Jim gets it,’ ” she added.\n\nHicks had offered an insight into Trump’s thinking. When the President called the press “fake news,” Hicks was essentially saying this was just an expression, part of the act, something I apparently “get.” Other Trump aides and advisers confirmed this assessment.\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nJim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People'\n\n05:18   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nJim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People'\n\n05:18\n\nBut what may have begun as something of a reality TV-style parlor trick has mutated into a full-blown assault on the American free press, one that the President apparently can no longer control.\n\nThe following day, Trump demonstrated he was fully capable of escalating his rhetoric aimed at the news media. It was a dark and dangerous tweet that may well define much of his presidency.\n\n“The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” he wrote.\n\nMore than 30 current and former administration officials, as well as other outside Trump advisers and high-ranking GOP officials, spoke with me for my book *“The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,”* set for release Tuesday. Other officials from the administration, most notably Trump and White House press secretary Sanders, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.\n\nAsked where the term “the enemy of the people” came from, three former and current senior White House officials pointed the finger at the conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, an ex-West Wing strategist himself, as having coined the villainous label. Yet, in an interview, Bannon said that’s not quite the case. The former Breitbart executive insisted he and Trump had conjured up the anti-press catchphrase together.\n\n“I think it’s safe to say that we both came up with it in discussion,” Bannon said, making sure Trump received part of the credit.\n\n“I think I threw out ‘opposition media party’ first, and then he threw out ‘fake news is the enemy of the people,’ ” Bannon added, referring to his own description of journalists as the “opposition” during the early days of the Trump administration.\n\n[OPINION: Sam Donaldson: What Jim Acosta is doing is exactly right](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/06\/11\/opinions\/jim-acosta-book-trump-press-sam-donaldson\/index.html)\n\nDiscounting the notion that such rhetoric could lead to violence against journalists, Bannon was careful to draw what he thought was an important distinction, noting that Trump doesn’t regard all journalists as the “enemy.” Only those reporters seen by the President as purveyors of “fake news” fit into that category, Bannon continued.\n\nWhite House counselor Kellyanne Conway, in an interview for my book, said she did not agree with the use of that expression.\n\n“It’s fraught. It’s danger –, ” Conway stopped midsentence, catching herself before saying “dangerous.”\n\n“I think calling the President a Russian asset is dangerous,” she added.\n\n“I don’t use that phrase. Yet there is ample evidence that the media are often the enemy of the relevant,” she said.\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nTrump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange\n\n02:58   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nTrump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange\n\n02:58\n\nOne senior White House official rejected Bannon’s comments, saying he should be taking full responsibility for the “enemy of the people” term.\n\n” ‘Enemy of the people’ was first said in this White House by somebody who spent all of his time talking to the media,” the senior official said, referring to Bannon. “It’s absolutely Bannon.”\n\nStill, the original purpose of the expression was to taunt members of the press, not trigger threatening reactions from Trump supporters, the official said.\n\n“It’s meant to incite the media. Not the people,” the official continued.\n\nBannon explained that Trump’s use of the “enemy” label should be viewed as part of a larger media strategy aimed at mastering the nation’s nonstop political news cycle, the same approach that allowed Trump to cut through 16 GOP presidential candidates like a “scythe through grass,” as Bannon put it.\n\nStill, some of the President’s supporters have lashed out at the press after absorbing this volatile rhetoric, behaving in ways that have left journalists feeling endangered. This phenomenon can be seen in the death threats streaming into the social media accounts of news anchors and reporters who cover Trump on a regular basis. Popular apps such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have done little to stem the flow of these violent messages.\n\n“If Trump is removed from office in any way, you are dead,” read one message posted on my Instagram account.\n\nSelf-described Trump supporters have left messages recommending that I be castrated, decapitated and set on fire. Theirs was the same kind of hatred that had driven Trump supporter [Cesar Sayoc to send pipe bombs to CNN](http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/10\/26\/media\/cesar-sayoc-social-media-cnn-attacks\/index.html) and Democratic targets shortly before the midterm elections in 2018. His vivid threats directed at me on Twitter went undetected until authorities captured him.\n\n## Handling falsehoods and ‘alternative facts’\nTrump semantics: 'alternative facts'\n\n00:19   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nTrump semantics: 'alternative facts'\n\n00:19\n\nTrump’s unprecedented verbal attacks on the press, his chaotic management style and his assaults on the truth have often confounded his own advisers, placing some members of his beleaguered team in the position of explaining the President’s outright falsehoods.\n\nAfter then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer falsely claimed in January 2017 that Trump had drawn the largest inauguration crowd in US history, Conway came to the spokesman’s defense with a catchphrase that she now regrets.\n\n” ‘Alternative facts’ was a slip of the tongue. I rushed through ‘alternative information and additional facts,’ and it got mushed together,” Conway said. “It was never meant to be Orwellian or to excuse lies.”\n\nBut Conway and Spicer had their stumbles as they were attempting to explain outbursts from a President who excelled at creating disorder. As a former senior White House official said, much of Trump’s chaotic behavior was by design.\n\n“He rules by instability. He wins by making everything around him unstable,” the official told me. That way, the official said, Trump controls the chaos.\n\nIntense frustration with Trump’s management style has also led some senior White House and administration officials to arrive at damning assessments of the President.\n\n“The President’s insane,” one senior official said, in a moment of exasperation with Trump’s behavior behind the scenes.\n\nAsked what the aide meant, the official complained Trump failed to understand the constraints on the executive branch built into the US Constitution by the nation’s Founding Fathers, the guardrails installed to protect American democracy from the possibility of a rogue president.\n\nWhat were the rules for appointing Cabinet officials and how long can acting secretaries stay on the job, Trump wanted to know, according to the official.\n\n## Unpredictable behavior abroad and at home\n**Unable to load video**\n\nPlease try again later.\n\nError occurred while fetching labs\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nCooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin\n\n05:15   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nCooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin\n\n05:15\n\nTrump’s behavior around foreign leaders, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, also puzzled senior members of his national security team.\n\nAround the time of Putin’s reelection in March 2018, Trump wanted to send the Russian leader a news clipping, signed by him, to wish the ex-KGB agent good luck, a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the situation said.\n\n“Vladimir, you’re going to do great,” Trump was going to tell Putin, according to the official, who viewed the clipping but cautioned it was not certain whether the message was ultimately sent off to the Russian President. Still, the official raised concerns about Trump’s gesture with other aides, worried that the clipping, should it somehow be released, could be an embarrassment for Trump and prompt more questions about the relationship between the two leaders.\n\n“Other people were aware,” the official said.\n\nThe official could not explain why Trump was so cozy with Putin.\n\n“I can’t answer that question,” the official confessed.\n\nTrump’s unpredictable behavior with foreign leaders was a constant source of consternation for former chief of staff John Kelly, who did not hide his unhappiness from other West Wing aides.\n\n“You didn’t leave him alone, did you?” Kelly once blurted out to a senior aide, the official said.\n\nOther officials in the administration questioned Trump’s handling of his domestic agenda, such as his crackdown on migrants crossing the border with Mexico.\n\nIn a rare public expression of concern with an administration initiative, Conway said she disagreed with the “zero-tolerance” policy that resulted in family separations at the border in 2018.\n\n“As a mother, as a Catholic, as a person of conscience, I don’t want children ripped from their parents,” Conway said with regret, before adding she also didn’t want to see families taken advantage of by “smugglers and coyotes,” a comment more in line with the administration’s talking points on immigration.\n\nIn the two years since Trump’s election, one constant of his time in office has been his rallies. During the 2016 campaign, Trump began his assault on the media, referring to news outlets as “dishonest” and “disgusting.” That routine has continued right into Trump’s presidency as he has excited his base with rhetoric steeped in hostility toward journalists. Some of the President’s supporters have joined in on the act, hurling insults at reporters inside the press filing spaces at the rallies.\n\n“You’re scum. You’re a scumbag,” yelled one man repeatedly for approximately 30 minutes at a rally last year in Nashville.\n\n“Out, out, out, out,” shrieked an elderly woman at a rally later in the year in Columbia, South Carolina, whipping the crowd of thousands into a frenzy as she insisted that the CNN crew be ejected from the venue.\n\nAnother woman at the Columbia rally warned me to tone down my questions to both the President and press secretary Sanders or face the consequences.\n\n“What’s going to happen is we’re going to end up with a civil war. You’re going to have people shooting people,” warned the woman.\n\nAt another rally a few weeks later in Tampa, Florida, large group of Trump supporters screamed and flashed middle fingers at me. Trump later retweeted a video of the incident, catapulting its viewership into the millions. The episode was followed by a string of disturbing messages left on my social media accounts.\n\n“Hopefully he gets beaten to death at one soon,” read one message left on my Instagram account.","meta_canonical":null}

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Meta Title	How Trump’s ‘fake news’ rhetoric has gotten out of control \| CNN Politics
Meta Description	It was February 16, 2017, and President Donald J. Trump had just held a news conference in the White House East Room to confront questions about his decision to fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. As he was jousting with reporters over the still unfolding details of the Russia investigation, Trump offered a new twist on his recent line of attack on the press.
Meta Canonical	null
Boilerpipe Text	Adapted from Jim Acosta’s “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America” set for release Tuesday Washington CNN — It was February 16, 2017, and President Donald J. Trump had just held a news conference in the White House East Room to confront questions about his decision to fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. As he was jousting with reporters over the still unfolding details of the Russia investigation , Trump offered a new twist on his recent line of attack on the press. “I’m changing it from fake news, though,” Trump said in response to a question from me. “Very fake news,” the President added , to laughter in the room. Trump has his share of flaws but comic timing isn’t one of them. Ad Feedback Ad Feedback Later in the afternoon, the phone rang. It was one of the President’s most trusted aides, Hope Hicks . “I wanted to let you know that I spoke with the President and he wants you to know that he thought you were very professional today,” Hicks said. “He said, ‘Jim gets it,’ ” she added. Hicks had offered an insight into Trump’s thinking. When the President called the press “fake news,” Hicks was essentially saying this was just an expression, part of the act, something I apparently “get.” Other Trump aides and advisers confirmed this assessment. Video Ad Feedback Jim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People' 05:18 • Source: CNN Jim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People' 05:18 But what may have begun as something of a reality TV-style parlor trick has mutated into a full-blown assault on the American free press, one that the President apparently can no longer control. The following day, Trump demonstrated he was fully capable of escalating his rhetoric aimed at the news media. It was a dark and dangerous tweet that may well define much of his presidency. “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” he wrote. More than 30 current and former administration officials, as well as other outside Trump advisers and high-ranking GOP officials, spoke with me for my book “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,” set for release Tuesday. Other officials from the administration, most notably Trump and White House press secretary Sanders, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. Asked where the term “the enemy of the people” came from, three former and current senior White House officials pointed the finger at the conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, an ex-West Wing strategist himself, as having coined the villainous label. Yet, in an interview, Bannon said that’s not quite the case. The former Breitbart executive insisted he and Trump had conjured up the anti-press catchphrase together. “I think it’s safe to say that we both came up with it in discussion,” Bannon said, making sure Trump received part of the credit. “I think I threw out ‘opposition media party’ first, and then he threw out ‘fake news is the enemy of the people,’ ” Bannon added, referring to his own description of journalists as the “opposition” during the early days of the Trump administration. OPINION: Sam Donaldson: What Jim Acosta is doing is exactly right Discounting the notion that such rhetoric could lead to violence against journalists, Bannon was careful to draw what he thought was an important distinction, noting that Trump doesn’t regard all journalists as the “enemy.” Only those reporters seen by the President as purveyors of “fake news” fit into that category, Bannon continued. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, in an interview for my book, said she did not agree with the use of that expression. “It’s fraught. It’s danger –, ” Conway stopped midsentence, catching herself before saying “dangerous.” “I think calling the President a Russian asset is dangerous,” she added. “I don’t use that phrase. Yet there is ample evidence that the media are often the enemy of the relevant,” she said. Video Ad Feedback Trump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange 02:58 • Source: CNN Trump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange 02:58 One senior White House official rejected Bannon’s comments, saying he should be taking full responsibility for the “enemy of the people” term. ” ‘Enemy of the people’ was first said in this White House by somebody who spent all of his time talking to the media,” the senior official said, referring to Bannon. “It’s absolutely Bannon.” Still, the original purpose of the expression was to taunt members of the press, not trigger threatening reactions from Trump supporters, the official said. “It’s meant to incite the media. Not the people,” the official continued. Bannon explained that Trump’s use of the “enemy” label should be viewed as part of a larger media strategy aimed at mastering the nation’s nonstop political news cycle, the same approach that allowed Trump to cut through 16 GOP presidential candidates like a “scythe through grass,” as Bannon put it. Still, some of the President’s supporters have lashed out at the press after absorbing this volatile rhetoric, behaving in ways that have left journalists feeling endangered. This phenomenon can be seen in the death threats streaming into the social media accounts of news anchors and reporters who cover Trump on a regular basis. Popular apps such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have done little to stem the flow of these violent messages. “If Trump is removed from office in any way, you are dead,” read one message posted on my Instagram account. Self-described Trump supporters have left messages recommending that I be castrated, decapitated and set on fire. Theirs was the same kind of hatred that had driven Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc to send pipe bombs to CNN and Democratic targets shortly before the midterm elections in 2018. His vivid threats directed at me on Twitter went undetected until authorities captured him. Handling falsehoods and ‘alternative facts’ Trump semantics: 'alternative facts' 00:19 • Source: CNN Trump semantics: 'alternative facts' 00:19 Trump’s unprecedented verbal attacks on the press, his chaotic management style and his assaults on the truth have often confounded his own advisers, placing some members of his beleaguered team in the position of explaining the President’s outright falsehoods. After then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer falsely claimed in January 2017 that Trump had drawn the largest inauguration crowd in US history, Conway came to the spokesman’s defense with a catchphrase that she now regrets. ” ‘Alternative facts’ was a slip of the tongue. I rushed through ‘alternative information and additional facts,’ and it got mushed together,” Conway said. “It was never meant to be Orwellian or to excuse lies.” But Conway and Spicer had their stumbles as they were attempting to explain outbursts from a President who excelled at creating disorder. As a former senior White House official said, much of Trump’s chaotic behavior was by design. “He rules by instability. He wins by making everything around him unstable,” the official told me. That way, the official said, Trump controls the chaos. Intense frustration with Trump’s management style has also led some senior White House and administration officials to arrive at damning assessments of the President. “The President’s insane,” one senior official said, in a moment of exasperation with Trump’s behavior behind the scenes. Asked what the aide meant, the official complained Trump failed to understand the constraints on the executive branch built into the US Constitution by the nation’s Founding Fathers, the guardrails installed to protect American democracy from the possibility of a rogue president. What were the rules for appointing Cabinet officials and how long can acting secretaries stay on the job, Trump wanted to know, according to the official. Unpredictable behavior abroad and at home Unable to load video Please try again later. Error occurred while fetching labs Video Ad Feedback Cooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin 05:15 • Source: CNN Cooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin 05:15 Trump’s behavior around foreign leaders, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, also puzzled senior members of his national security team. Around the time of Putin’s reelection in March 2018, Trump wanted to send the Russian leader a news clipping, signed by him, to wish the ex-KGB agent good luck, a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the situation said. “Vladimir, you’re going to do great,” Trump was going to tell Putin, according to the official, who viewed the clipping but cautioned it was not certain whether the message was ultimately sent off to the Russian President. Still, the official raised concerns about Trump’s gesture with other aides, worried that the clipping, should it somehow be released, could be an embarrassment for Trump and prompt more questions about the relationship between the two leaders. “Other people were aware,” the official said. The official could not explain why Trump was so cozy with Putin. “I can’t answer that question,” the official confessed. Trump’s unpredictable behavior with foreign leaders was a constant source of consternation for former chief of staff John Kelly, who did not hide his unhappiness from other West Wing aides. “You didn’t leave him alone, did you?” Kelly once blurted out to a senior aide, the official said. Other officials in the administration questioned Trump’s handling of his domestic agenda, such as his crackdown on migrants crossing the border with Mexico. In a rare public expression of concern with an administration initiative, Conway said she disagreed with the “zero-tolerance” policy that resulted in family separations at the border in 2018. “As a mother, as a Catholic, as a person of conscience, I don’t want children ripped from their parents,” Conway said with regret, before adding she also didn’t want to see families taken advantage of by “smugglers and coyotes,” a comment more in line with the administration’s talking points on immigration. In the two years since Trump’s election, one constant of his time in office has been his rallies. During the 2016 campaign, Trump began his assault on the media, referring to news outlets as “dishonest” and “disgusting.” That routine has continued right into Trump’s presidency as he has excited his base with rhetoric steeped in hostility toward journalists. Some of the President’s supporters have joined in on the act, hurling insults at reporters inside the press filing spaces at the rallies. “You’re scum. You’re a scumbag,” yelled one man repeatedly for approximately 30 minutes at a rally last year in Nashville. “Out, out, out, out,” shrieked an elderly woman at a rally later in the year in Columbia, South Carolina, whipping the crowd of thousands into a frenzy as she insisted that the CNN crew be ejected from the venue. Another woman at the Columbia rally warned me to tone down my questions to both the President and press secretary Sanders or face the consequences. “What’s going to happen is we’re going to end up with a civil war. You’re going to have people shooting people,” warned the woman. At another rally a few weeks later in Tampa, Florida, large group of Trump supporters screamed and flashed middle fingers at me. Trump later retweeted a video of the incident, catapulting its viewership into the millions. The episode was followed by a string of disturbing messages left on my social media accounts. “Hopefully he gets beaten to death at one soon,” read one message left on my Instagram account.
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Video Ad Feedback Acosta: I wanted to send a message defending the press 02:02 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Politics of the Day 9 videos ![ebenzer warnock.png](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Sen. Raphael Warnock's Easter message: We have a shot at working with God to write 'a new chapter for human possibility' 17:09 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![ARLINGTON, VA - MARCH 03: Voting booths sit empty midway through the day of the Democratic presidential primary elections at the Sleepy Hollow Elementary School polling location on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. 1,357 Democratic delegates are at stake as voters cast their ballots in 14 states and American Samoa on what is known as Super Tuesday. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback CNN poll shows Democrats hold early advantage in midterms 00:49 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![image.png](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Trump gives an Oval Office primetime address on the war with Iran 05:04 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![Jim Acosta June 9 2019 01](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Acosta: I wanted to send a message defending the press 02:02 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 6, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback See Trump’s social media post agreeing to two week ceasefire 03:20 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 06: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 06, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump spoke about the successful military mission to rescue a weapons systems officer whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down in Iran. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Trump threatens to jail a journalist over Iran rescue ‘leak’ 01:19 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![118618\_TrumpArtemisIICall digvid.jpg](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Artemis II shares laugh with Trump 00:45 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![20260405-gps\_split 3 .jpg](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Analysts react to Trump’s social media post on Iran 05:02 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![SciuttoLatest thumb.jpg](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback How the US military rescued the fighter jet crew member who crashed in Iran 01:08 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![ebenzer warnock.png](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Sen. Raphael Warnock's Easter message: We have a shot at working with God to write 'a new chapter for human possibility' 17:09 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![ARLINGTON, VA - MARCH 03: Voting booths sit empty midway through the day of the Democratic presidential primary elections at the Sleepy Hollow Elementary School polling location on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. 1,357 Democratic delegates are at stake as voters cast their ballots in 14 states and American Samoa on what is known as Super Tuesday. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback CNN poll shows Democrats hold early advantage in midterms 00:49 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![image.png](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Trump gives an Oval Office primetime address on the war with Iran 05:04 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![Jim Acosta June 9 2019 01](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Acosta: I wanted to send a message defending the press 02:02 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 6, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback See Trump’s social media post agreeing to two week ceasefire 03:20 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 06: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 06, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump spoke about the successful military mission to rescue a weapons systems officer whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down in Iran. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Trump threatens to jail a journalist over Iran rescue ‘leak’ 01:19 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) See more videos Adapted from Jim Acosta’s “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America” set for release Tuesday Washington CNN — It was February 16, 2017, and President [Donald J. Trump had just held a news conference in the White House East Room](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/politics/donald-trump-michael-flynn-sanctions/index.html) to confront questions about his decision to fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. As he was jousting with reporters over the still unfolding details of the [Russia investigation](http://www.cnn.com/2019/04/18/politics/full-mueller-report-pdf/index.html), Trump offered a new twist on his recent line of attack on the press. “I’m changing it from fake news, though,” Trump said in response to a question from me. [“Very fake news,” the President added](http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/26/politics/trump-fake-news-mueller-analysis/index.html), to laughter in the room. Trump has his share of flaws but comic timing isn’t one of them. Ad Feedback Ad Feedback Later in the afternoon, the phone rang. It was [one of the President’s most trusted aides, Hope Hicks](http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/26/politics/hope-hicks-donald-trump-white-house/index.html). “I wanted to let you know that I spoke with the President and he wants you to know that he thought you were very professional today,” Hicks said. “He said, ‘Jim gets it,’ ” she added. Hicks had offered an insight into Trump’s thinking. When the President called the press “fake news,” Hicks was essentially saying this was just an expression, part of the act, something I apparently “get.” Other Trump aides and advisers confirmed this assessment. Video Ad Feedback Jim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People' 05:18 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Jim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People' 05:18 But what may have begun as something of a reality TV-style parlor trick has mutated into a full-blown assault on the American free press, one that the President apparently can no longer control. The following day, Trump demonstrated he was fully capable of escalating his rhetoric aimed at the news media. It was a dark and dangerous tweet that may well define much of his presidency. “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” he wrote. > > The FAKE NEWS media (failing [@nytimes](https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), [@NBCNews](https://twitter.com/NBCNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), [@ABC](https://twitter.com/ABC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), [@CBS](https://twitter.com/CBS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), [@CNN](https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People\! > > > > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [February 17, 2017](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/832708293516632065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) More than 30 current and former administration officials, as well as other outside Trump advisers and high-ranking GOP officials, spoke with me for my book “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,” set for release Tuesday. Other officials from the administration, most notably Trump and White House press secretary Sanders, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. Asked where the term “the enemy of the people” came from, three former and current senior White House officials pointed the finger at the conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, an ex-West Wing strategist himself, as having coined the villainous label. Yet, in an interview, Bannon said that’s not quite the case. The former Breitbart executive insisted he and Trump had conjured up the anti-press catchphrase together. “I think it’s safe to say that we both came up with it in discussion,” Bannon said, making sure Trump received part of the credit. “I think I threw out ‘opposition media party’ first, and then he threw out ‘fake news is the enemy of the people,’ ” Bannon added, referring to his own description of journalists as the “opposition” during the early days of the Trump administration. [OPINION: Sam Donaldson: What Jim Acosta is doing is exactly right](http://www.cnn.com/2019/06/11/opinions/jim-acosta-book-trump-press-sam-donaldson/index.html) Discounting the notion that such rhetoric could lead to violence against journalists, Bannon was careful to draw what he thought was an important distinction, noting that Trump doesn’t regard all journalists as the “enemy.” Only those reporters seen by the President as purveyors of “fake news” fit into that category, Bannon continued. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, in an interview for my book, said she did not agree with the use of that expression. “It’s fraught. It’s danger –, ” Conway stopped midsentence, catching herself before saying “dangerous.” “I think calling the President a Russian asset is dangerous,” she added. “I don’t use that phrase. Yet there is ample evidence that the media are often the enemy of the relevant,” she said. Video Ad Feedback Trump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange 02:58 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Trump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange 02:58 One senior White House official rejected Bannon’s comments, saying he should be taking full responsibility for the “enemy of the people” term. ” ‘Enemy of the people’ was first said in this White House by somebody who spent all of his time talking to the media,” the senior official said, referring to Bannon. “It’s absolutely Bannon.” Still, the original purpose of the expression was to taunt members of the press, not trigger threatening reactions from Trump supporters, the official said. “It’s meant to incite the media. Not the people,” the official continued. Bannon explained that Trump’s use of the “enemy” label should be viewed as part of a larger media strategy aimed at mastering the nation’s nonstop political news cycle, the same approach that allowed Trump to cut through 16 GOP presidential candidates like a “scythe through grass,” as Bannon put it. Still, some of the President’s supporters have lashed out at the press after absorbing this volatile rhetoric, behaving in ways that have left journalists feeling endangered. This phenomenon can be seen in the death threats streaming into the social media accounts of news anchors and reporters who cover Trump on a regular basis. Popular apps such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have done little to stem the flow of these violent messages. “If Trump is removed from office in any way, you are dead,” read one message posted on my Instagram account. Self-described Trump supporters have left messages recommending that I be castrated, decapitated and set on fire. Theirs was the same kind of hatred that had driven Trump supporter [Cesar Sayoc to send pipe bombs to CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2018/10/26/media/cesar-sayoc-social-media-cnn-attacks/index.html) and Democratic targets shortly before the midterm elections in 2018. His vivid threats directed at me on Twitter went undetected until authorities captured him. ## Handling falsehoods and ‘alternative facts’ Trump semantics: 'alternative facts' 00:19 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Trump semantics: 'alternative facts' 00:19 Trump’s unprecedented verbal attacks on the press, his chaotic management style and his assaults on the truth have often confounded his own advisers, placing some members of his beleaguered team in the position of explaining the President’s outright falsehoods. After then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer falsely claimed in January 2017 that Trump had drawn the largest inauguration crowd in US history, Conway came to the spokesman’s defense with a catchphrase that she now regrets. ” ‘Alternative facts’ was a slip of the tongue. I rushed through ‘alternative information and additional facts,’ and it got mushed together,” Conway said. “It was never meant to be Orwellian or to excuse lies.” But Conway and Spicer had their stumbles as they were attempting to explain outbursts from a President who excelled at creating disorder. As a former senior White House official said, much of Trump’s chaotic behavior was by design. “He rules by instability. He wins by making everything around him unstable,” the official told me. That way, the official said, Trump controls the chaos. Intense frustration with Trump’s management style has also led some senior White House and administration officials to arrive at damning assessments of the President. “The President’s insane,” one senior official said, in a moment of exasperation with Trump’s behavior behind the scenes. Asked what the aide meant, the official complained Trump failed to understand the constraints on the executive branch built into the US Constitution by the nation’s Founding Fathers, the guardrails installed to protect American democracy from the possibility of a rogue president. What were the rules for appointing Cabinet officials and how long can acting secretaries stay on the job, Trump wanted to know, according to the official. ## Unpredictable behavior abroad and at home Unable to load video Please try again later. Error occurred while fetching labs Video Ad Feedback Cooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin 05:15 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Cooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin 05:15 Trump’s behavior around foreign leaders, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, also puzzled senior members of his national security team. Around the time of Putin’s reelection in March 2018, Trump wanted to send the Russian leader a news clipping, signed by him, to wish the ex-KGB agent good luck, a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the situation said. “Vladimir, you’re going to do great,” Trump was going to tell Putin, according to the official, who viewed the clipping but cautioned it was not certain whether the message was ultimately sent off to the Russian President. Still, the official raised concerns about Trump’s gesture with other aides, worried that the clipping, should it somehow be released, could be an embarrassment for Trump and prompt more questions about the relationship between the two leaders. “Other people were aware,” the official said. The official could not explain why Trump was so cozy with Putin. “I can’t answer that question,” the official confessed. Trump’s unpredictable behavior with foreign leaders was a constant source of consternation for former chief of staff John Kelly, who did not hide his unhappiness from other West Wing aides. “You didn’t leave him alone, did you?” Kelly once blurted out to a senior aide, the official said. Other officials in the administration questioned Trump’s handling of his domestic agenda, such as his crackdown on migrants crossing the border with Mexico. In a rare public expression of concern with an administration initiative, Conway said she disagreed with the “zero-tolerance” policy that resulted in family separations at the border in 2018. “As a mother, as a Catholic, as a person of conscience, I don’t want children ripped from their parents,” Conway said with regret, before adding she also didn’t want to see families taken advantage of by “smugglers and coyotes,” a comment more in line with the administration’s talking points on immigration. In the two years since Trump’s election, one constant of his time in office has been his rallies. During the 2016 campaign, Trump began his assault on the media, referring to news outlets as “dishonest” and “disgusting.” That routine has continued right into Trump’s presidency as he has excited his base with rhetoric steeped in hostility toward journalists. Some of the President’s supporters have joined in on the act, hurling insults at reporters inside the press filing spaces at the rallies. “You’re scum. You’re a scumbag,” yelled one man repeatedly for approximately 30 minutes at a rally last year in Nashville. “Out, out, out, out,” shrieked an elderly woman at a rally later in the year in Columbia, South Carolina, whipping the crowd of thousands into a frenzy as she insisted that the CNN crew be ejected from the venue. Another woman at the Columbia rally warned me to tone down my questions to both the President and press secretary Sanders or face the consequences. “What’s going to happen is we’re going to end up with a civil war. You’re going to have people shooting people,” warned the woman. At another rally a few weeks later in Tampa, Florida, large group of Trump supporters screamed and flashed middle fingers at me. Trump later retweeted a video of the incident, catapulting its viewership into the millions. The episode was followed by a string of disturbing messages left on my social media accounts. “Hopefully he gets beaten to death at one soon,” read one message left on my Instagram account. 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Readable Markdown	Adapted from Jim Acosta’s “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America” set for release Tuesday Washington CNN — It was February 16, 2017, and President [Donald J. Trump had just held a news conference in the White House East Room](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/politics/donald-trump-michael-flynn-sanctions/index.html) to confront questions about his decision to fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. As he was jousting with reporters over the still unfolding details of the [Russia investigation](http://www.cnn.com/2019/04/18/politics/full-mueller-report-pdf/index.html), Trump offered a new twist on his recent line of attack on the press. “I’m changing it from fake news, though,” Trump said in response to a question from me. [“Very fake news,” the President added](http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/26/politics/trump-fake-news-mueller-analysis/index.html), to laughter in the room. Trump has his share of flaws but comic timing isn’t one of them. Ad Feedback Ad Feedback Later in the afternoon, the phone rang. It was [one of the President’s most trusted aides, Hope Hicks](http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/26/politics/hope-hicks-donald-trump-white-house/index.html). “I wanted to let you know that I spoke with the President and he wants you to know that he thought you were very professional today,” Hicks said. “He said, ‘Jim gets it,’ ” she added. Hicks had offered an insight into Trump’s thinking. When the President called the press “fake news,” Hicks was essentially saying this was just an expression, part of the act, something I apparently “get.” Other Trump aides and advisers confirmed this assessment. Video Ad Feedback Jim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People' 05:18 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Jim Acosta's new book: 'The Enemy of the People' 05:18 But what may have begun as something of a reality TV-style parlor trick has mutated into a full-blown assault on the American free press, one that the President apparently can no longer control. The following day, Trump demonstrated he was fully capable of escalating his rhetoric aimed at the news media. It was a dark and dangerous tweet that may well define much of his presidency. “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” he wrote. More than 30 current and former administration officials, as well as other outside Trump advisers and high-ranking GOP officials, spoke with me for my book “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,” set for release Tuesday. Other officials from the administration, most notably Trump and White House press secretary Sanders, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. Asked where the term “the enemy of the people” came from, three former and current senior White House officials pointed the finger at the conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, an ex-West Wing strategist himself, as having coined the villainous label. Yet, in an interview, Bannon said that’s not quite the case. The former Breitbart executive insisted he and Trump had conjured up the anti-press catchphrase together. “I think it’s safe to say that we both came up with it in discussion,” Bannon said, making sure Trump received part of the credit. “I think I threw out ‘opposition media party’ first, and then he threw out ‘fake news is the enemy of the people,’ ” Bannon added, referring to his own description of journalists as the “opposition” during the early days of the Trump administration. [OPINION: Sam Donaldson: What Jim Acosta is doing is exactly right](http://www.cnn.com/2019/06/11/opinions/jim-acosta-book-trump-press-sam-donaldson/index.html) Discounting the notion that such rhetoric could lead to violence against journalists, Bannon was careful to draw what he thought was an important distinction, noting that Trump doesn’t regard all journalists as the “enemy.” Only those reporters seen by the President as purveyors of “fake news” fit into that category, Bannon continued. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, in an interview for my book, said she did not agree with the use of that expression. “It’s fraught. It’s danger –, ” Conway stopped midsentence, catching herself before saying “dangerous.” “I think calling the President a Russian asset is dangerous,” she added. “I don’t use that phrase. Yet there is ample evidence that the media are often the enemy of the relevant,” she said. Video Ad Feedback Trump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange 02:58 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Trump clashes with Acosta in testy exchange 02:58 One senior White House official rejected Bannon’s comments, saying he should be taking full responsibility for the “enemy of the people” term. ” ‘Enemy of the people’ was first said in this White House by somebody who spent all of his time talking to the media,” the senior official said, referring to Bannon. “It’s absolutely Bannon.” Still, the original purpose of the expression was to taunt members of the press, not trigger threatening reactions from Trump supporters, the official said. “It’s meant to incite the media. Not the people,” the official continued. Bannon explained that Trump’s use of the “enemy” label should be viewed as part of a larger media strategy aimed at mastering the nation’s nonstop political news cycle, the same approach that allowed Trump to cut through 16 GOP presidential candidates like a “scythe through grass,” as Bannon put it. Still, some of the President’s supporters have lashed out at the press after absorbing this volatile rhetoric, behaving in ways that have left journalists feeling endangered. This phenomenon can be seen in the death threats streaming into the social media accounts of news anchors and reporters who cover Trump on a regular basis. Popular apps such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have done little to stem the flow of these violent messages. “If Trump is removed from office in any way, you are dead,” read one message posted on my Instagram account. Self-described Trump supporters have left messages recommending that I be castrated, decapitated and set on fire. Theirs was the same kind of hatred that had driven Trump supporter [Cesar Sayoc to send pipe bombs to CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2018/10/26/media/cesar-sayoc-social-media-cnn-attacks/index.html) and Democratic targets shortly before the midterm elections in 2018. His vivid threats directed at me on Twitter went undetected until authorities captured him. ## Handling falsehoods and ‘alternative facts’ Trump semantics: 'alternative facts' 00:19 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Trump semantics: 'alternative facts' 00:19 Trump’s unprecedented verbal attacks on the press, his chaotic management style and his assaults on the truth have often confounded his own advisers, placing some members of his beleaguered team in the position of explaining the President’s outright falsehoods. After then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer falsely claimed in January 2017 that Trump had drawn the largest inauguration crowd in US history, Conway came to the spokesman’s defense with a catchphrase that she now regrets. ” ‘Alternative facts’ was a slip of the tongue. I rushed through ‘alternative information and additional facts,’ and it got mushed together,” Conway said. “It was never meant to be Orwellian or to excuse lies.” But Conway and Spicer had their stumbles as they were attempting to explain outbursts from a President who excelled at creating disorder. As a former senior White House official said, much of Trump’s chaotic behavior was by design. “He rules by instability. He wins by making everything around him unstable,” the official told me. That way, the official said, Trump controls the chaos. Intense frustration with Trump’s management style has also led some senior White House and administration officials to arrive at damning assessments of the President. “The President’s insane,” one senior official said, in a moment of exasperation with Trump’s behavior behind the scenes. Asked what the aide meant, the official complained Trump failed to understand the constraints on the executive branch built into the US Constitution by the nation’s Founding Fathers, the guardrails installed to protect American democracy from the possibility of a rogue president. What were the rules for appointing Cabinet officials and how long can acting secretaries stay on the job, Trump wanted to know, according to the official. ## Unpredictable behavior abroad and at home Unable to load video Please try again later. Error occurred while fetching labs Video Ad Feedback Cooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin 05:15 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Cooper: Trump is incapable of confronting Putin 05:15 Trump’s behavior around foreign leaders, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, also puzzled senior members of his national security team. Around the time of Putin’s reelection in March 2018, Trump wanted to send the Russian leader a news clipping, signed by him, to wish the ex-KGB agent good luck, a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the situation said. “Vladimir, you’re going to do great,” Trump was going to tell Putin, according to the official, who viewed the clipping but cautioned it was not certain whether the message was ultimately sent off to the Russian President. Still, the official raised concerns about Trump’s gesture with other aides, worried that the clipping, should it somehow be released, could be an embarrassment for Trump and prompt more questions about the relationship between the two leaders. “Other people were aware,” the official said. The official could not explain why Trump was so cozy with Putin. “I can’t answer that question,” the official confessed. Trump’s unpredictable behavior with foreign leaders was a constant source of consternation for former chief of staff John Kelly, who did not hide his unhappiness from other West Wing aides. “You didn’t leave him alone, did you?” Kelly once blurted out to a senior aide, the official said. Other officials in the administration questioned Trump’s handling of his domestic agenda, such as his crackdown on migrants crossing the border with Mexico. In a rare public expression of concern with an administration initiative, Conway said she disagreed with the “zero-tolerance” policy that resulted in family separations at the border in 2018. “As a mother, as a Catholic, as a person of conscience, I don’t want children ripped from their parents,” Conway said with regret, before adding she also didn’t want to see families taken advantage of by “smugglers and coyotes,” a comment more in line with the administration’s talking points on immigration. In the two years since Trump’s election, one constant of his time in office has been his rallies. During the 2016 campaign, Trump began his assault on the media, referring to news outlets as “dishonest” and “disgusting.” That routine has continued right into Trump’s presidency as he has excited his base with rhetoric steeped in hostility toward journalists. Some of the President’s supporters have joined in on the act, hurling insults at reporters inside the press filing spaces at the rallies. “You’re scum. You’re a scumbag,” yelled one man repeatedly for approximately 30 minutes at a rally last year in Nashville. “Out, out, out, out,” shrieked an elderly woman at a rally later in the year in Columbia, South Carolina, whipping the crowd of thousands into a frenzy as she insisted that the CNN crew be ejected from the venue. Another woman at the Columbia rally warned me to tone down my questions to both the President and press secretary Sanders or face the consequences. “What’s going to happen is we’re going to end up with a civil war. You’re going to have people shooting people,” warned the woman. At another rally a few weeks later in Tampa, Florida, large group of Trump supporters screamed and flashed middle fingers at me. Trump later retweeted a video of the incident, catapulting its viewership into the millions. The episode was followed by a string of disturbing messages left on my social media accounts. “Hopefully he gets beaten to death at one soon,” read one message left on my Instagram account.
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