US President Donald Trump has ripped into his favorite TV channel, Fox News, over coverage of his border wall standoff.
In a tweet on Sunday, the US president slammed two reporters working for the network, accusing them of having “less understanding” than what he frequently refers to as “fake news” media.
“Never thought I’d say this but I think [John Roberts] and [Gillian Turner] have even less understanding of the Wall negotiations than the folks at FAKE NEWS CNN & NBC!” Trump tweeted.
Referencing a poll published earlier this month, Trump continued, “Look to final results! Don’t know how my poll numbers are so good, especially up 19% with Hispanics?”
In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump also attacked conservative commentator Ann Coulter, a longtime supporter of his, over ending the longest shutdown in US history with no tangible results for the border wall funding.
“I hear she’s become very hostile,” Trump said. “Maybe I didn’t return her phone call or something.”
Coulter described Trump as “the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States” on the day he reached a deal with American lawmakers to end the 35-day-long partial shutdown.
“Look, it’s crazy that I expect a president to keep a promise he made every day for 18 months,” Coulter said in a TV appearance later.
Trump has been calling for a wall along the southern border since his 2016 presidential campaign, pledging that Mexico would pay for it.
Funding for the wall led to a budget impasse, causing a partial government shutdown.
Trump demands $5 billion, for which he is “proud” to shut down the government but Democrats are not offering more than $1.3 billion.
“I personally think it’s less than 50-50, but you have a lot of very good people on that board,” Trump told the Journal.
Meanwhile, there were concerns that Trump causes a second shutdown.
“He’s willing to do whatever it takes to secure the border,” said Mick Mulvaney, the White House acting chief of staff. “What he wants to do is fix this the way that things are supposed to get fixed with our government which is through legislation.”