Trump marks first 100 days with fresh attack on the New York Times
Donald Trump used the occasion of his first 100th day in office to, once again, lay into the press.
Rather than attend the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner Trump held a campaign-style rally in Pennsylvania
The president was speaking at campaign-style rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where he told a crowd of supporters that he was "thrilled" to be far away from Washington DC where members of the press were gathered for the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
He wasted little time in calling out specific media outlets, including the New York Times, with his frequently used 'fake news' accusation.
"Media outlets like CNN and MSNBC are fake news. Fake News," Trump said. "And they're sitting and they're wishing in Washington - they're watching right now - they would love to be with us tonight. But they're trapped at the dinner, which will be very, very boring."
Rather than reflecting on his own actions in his first 100 days in the presidency, Trump instead criticised the media's coverage during the period.
Take the totally failing New York Times. Pretty soon they'll only be on the internet," Trump said. "The paper is getting smaller and smaller — it's starting to look like a comic book."
He said the media had earned a "very, very big fat failing grade" and maintained the Washington media "is part of the problem".
He added: "Their priorities are not my priorities, and they're not your priorities, believe me."
Meanwhile back at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Daily Show correspondent and the evening's host, Hasan Minhaj, addressed Trump's absence from the event.
"OK, we've got to address the elephant that's not in the room," Minhaj said. "The leader of our country is not here, and that's because he lives in Moscow. It's a very long flight. It'd be hard for Vlad to make it ... As for the other guy, I think he's in Pennsylvania because he can't take a joke."
Minhaj said he had no solution on how to win back trust, but warned in the age of Trump the media had to be " more perfect now more than ever because you are how the president gets his news."