Donald Trump Calls Press “Nasty, Vicious & Fake” During Davos Q&A

He may have managed to stick to the autocue during his “America First” speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, but Donald Trump couldn’t get through a short Q&A afterwards without blasting the press.

The U.S. President, speaking to the event’s founder Klaus Schwab, called the media “nasty, vicious and fake” during the 10-minute sit-down session.

“As a businessman I was always treated really well by the press. You know, the numbers speak and things happen. But I’ve always, really, had a very good press,” he said. “And it wasn’t until I became a politician that I realized how nasty, how mean, how vicious and how fake the press can be.”

There were audible boos from the audience of world leaders and business titans – something that Trump seemed to expect and enjoy.

It was the second time Friday that the former Apprentice host slammed the fourth estate. Walking in to the event this morning, Trump labeled as “fake news” the New York Times report Thursday night that he had ordered his White House counsel to fire Robert Mueller last June, as Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election was gaining steam.

Elsewhere during the Q&A, Trump said he had had an enjoyable dinner with a group of European business leaders. “I think I have 15 new friends.” He pointed to stock market highs following his tax reforms and also recounted a conversation with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook.

Earlier this month, Apple revealed it would contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy over the next five years, a figure Trump initially thought was $350 million. However, Trump added that he wanted the tech company to move all of its plants from China to the U.S. “I will never consider this whole great run that we’ve made complete until [Apple] starts building plants in the U.S.,” he said.

After calling his tax reforms a “big, beautiful waterfall,” Trump closed by saying: “I think you have a brand new United States, where people from all over the world are coming to invest.”