Trump accuses media of fabricating news

US President Donald Trump has accused media outlets of "fabricating" much of the news they publish about the White House and inventing anonymous sources on which the reports are ostensibly based.

"It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media," said Trump in the first of several Sunday morning tweets, Efe news reported.

"Whenever you see the words 'sources say' in the fake news media, and they don't mention names........it is very possible that those sources don't exist but are made up by fake news writers. #FakeNews is the enemy!" he added in two more.

Now that the US President is back from his nine-day international tour, he appeared to be reacting to recent reports, citing anonymous sources, that his son-in-law - Jared Kushner - is being focused upon in the ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the November election and that Trump is planning big changes within the White House staff.

Since he came into office in January, Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration at press leaks coming from the White House or the US intelligence agencies, and in February he said that he had ordered an investigation of those "criminal" acts and that those responsible for the leaks would pay a big "price".

The President, who significantly curtailed his presence on Twitter during his first international tour - which took him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, The Vatican, Brussels and Sicily -- could certainly be irritated at the revelations regarding Kushner published by The Washington Post last Friday in an article citing "US.officials briefed on intelligence reports."

Both The Wall Street Journal - on Friday - and the Washington daily, on Sunday, reported that Trump is planning a big shakeup in the White House, including possibly dismissing or reducing the role of Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Those changes also include, according to the anonymous sources cited by the papers, creating a "war room" to respond to the constant media reporting on the Russia probe and directing the flow of the White House message on it, including the possibility that a team of attorneys may review Trump's tweets.

In his Sunday tweets, the president also referred to his international trip, saying "Just returned from Europe. Trip was a great success for America. Hard work but big results!".

--IANS

pgh/