Trump frequently portrays the news media as one of his enemies, but rarely has he been this blunt about it. Wednesday’s tweet harkens back to February 2017, when he called several news outlets “the enemy of the American People!”

He was roundly criticized back then. This time, there’s been a somewhat more muted reaction, perhaps because he is repeating himself. But it’s important to recognize just how extreme this rhetoric is.

No modern American president has publicly spoken this way about the press.

Richard Nixon sometimes talked this way, but only in private.

“Never forget, the press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy,” Nixon told his advisors, according to Oval Office recordings.

Related: Trump goes on media tour after Singapore summit

Trump relishes the fight. Time and time again, he seizes us-versus-them opportunities, casting the media as an opponent that must be defeated.

He says he likes some reporters, but labels others as “dishonest” examples of “fake news.”

Wednesday’s tweet was apparently provoked by news coverage of Trump’s summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

“So funny to watch the Fake News, especially NBC and CNN,” he wrote. “They are fighting hard to downplay the deal with North Korea. 500 days ago they would have ‘begged’ for this deal — looked like war would break out. Our Country’s biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!”

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman translated the tweet this way: “Someone is unhappy with headlines reflecting what happened instead of what he wants to say happened.”

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell asked: “What deal? There is no deal with North Korea.”

So let me get this straight. Iran, which does not have nuclear weapons, remains a critical threat. North Korea, which still has its nuclear weapons, is no longer a threat because KJU told the Donald so. Geeesh.

One country in history has developed nuclear weapons and abandoned them, and this involved a monumental change in regime (South Africa after the demise of Apartheid and rise of Mandela and the ANC). North Korea will not be second as long as KJU remains in power. I am taking all bets on this one. […]

TAC Reader:
… the massive force driving this scenario as it plays out is Xi/China. Xi wants to put the North Korea problem to bed so that China can focus on the BRI, AIIB, SCO, EAEU initiatives while minimizing the “meddling” of the Global Cop Gorilla.

U.S. hegemony is played. This is China getting its ducks in a row to eclipse the U.S. economically as the U.S. bankrupts itself. […]

Poetic justice: It’s looking more and more like Asia will be great again. And even our European allies -and Canada- may be approaching the point where they deem America’s “leadership” role in the world no longer needed or desired.

In short: This farce of a presidency may very well leave the U.S. very much isolated, extremely marginalized and therefore significantly diminished, from a global and financial perspective.

UK’s parliament bursts into laughter after prime minister is asked ‘Trudeau or Trump?’

The United Kingdom’s House of Commons burst into laughter on Monday after Conservative MP Crispin Blunt asked Prime Minister Theresa May to choose between President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking: “Trudeau or Trump?” – The Hill, AOL UK, Huffpost Canada, – H/T: MSNBC

TH Reader:
So let’s see. Our closest neighboring ally, our longest ally and our closest ally all think our President is a joke. I suppose that’s “winning.”

TH Reader:
“It’s official, we are no longer the leaders of the free world. We’re siding with the authoritarians, dictators and human rights violators.”