Tells journalists to go write their 'phony' stories

Peppered with questions about the whistleblower-prompted impeachment investigation during a press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö Wednesday (Oct. 2), the President went off on news media, appearing to yet-again ramp up his efforts to marginalize his media critics.

He said he wasn't even calling the news "fake" anymore, a term he claimed to have coined, saying, according to a White House transcript: "I call the fake news now, 'corrupt news.' Because 'fake' isn’t tough enough, and I’m the one that came up with the term -- I’m very proud of it -- but I think I’m going to switch it largely to "corrupt news." Because the media in this country -- not everybody; we have some great reporters, some great journalists. But much of it is corrupt. It’s corrupt. You have corrupt media in this country. And it truly is the enemy of the people.

Dismissing the reporters at the end of the conference, the President added. "Have a good day, everybody. Go write some phony stories. Go write some phony stories."