United States President Donald Trump claimed credit for exposing "fake news" since he took over the post in November last year.
In an interview with conservative activist and Turning Point USA head Charlie Kirk here on Thursday, President Trump attacked the press, and said that the media 'turned on him' after he declared his candidacy, The Hill reported.
"All my life I got the greatest publicity until I ran for office. But there's a lot of fake news out there, and I'm proud that I exposed it. People really do get it. There is a lot of fake news out there. Nobody had any idea. I'm actually proud of the fact I exposed it to a large extent. It's an achievement," he claimed.
President Trump added that he had 'tremendous respect' for reporters. However, he did not name any journalist which he thinks them as 'credible'.
On Tuesday, President Trump congratulated his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, after the latter secured an unprecedented fourth term in the just-concluded Russian presidential election.
The US President has since then slammed the negative coverage of his phone call with President Putin.
More From This Section
In January, President Trump along with the Republican National Committee (RNC) - mocked CNN, The Washington Post and other major news organisations with the "Fake News Awards," attacking columnists and news organisations by name for spreading what the administration claimed were 'false stories'.
"2017 was a year of unrelenting bias, unfair news coverage, and even downright fake news. Studies have shown that over 90 percent of the media's coverage of President Trump is negative," the RNC wrote in its announcement of the awards.