Trump and Musk attack journalists by name in social media posts

President Trump has revealed his animus towards mainstream media organizations. Now he's become more personal.

Trump and his leading aide Elon Musk have been given the authority to run what the government's Department of Efficiency calls “special government officials,” and have recently been able to create journalists on their social media platforms. Attacked: True Society and x.

On his true social account on Friday, Trump called for the Washington Post to fire Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Eugene Robinson, and named him “incompetent.” Trump frequently posts on his accounts to millions of followers and regularly denounces his enemies.

In his opinion column on Thursday, Robinson wrote that a Republican senator should “shamble himself.” It manages foreign aid programs in government sectors such as the US International Development Agency. Robinson appeared on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” on Friday to discuss his column.

“It's so sad to see him trying to justify waste, fraud and corruption in USAID with a pathetic radical left spin,” Trump wrote. “He should be fired immediately!!”

In an email, a spokesperson for the post said: “Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist with 45 years of honesty, professionalism, and a record of meticulous reporting and commentary. The Washington Post stands behind Gene. Independent reporting and Free Press. Just like it's behind every journalist and news organization that is dedicated to it.”

Musk was targeting Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Katherine Long. In a journal report on Thursday, Long said that Marco Elez, one of Musk's aides in the government's efficiency, had linked to racist social media accounts since posting a statement. It was revealed first. “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity.”

Erez resigned after the Journal approached the White House for comment, according to the article. It was Long's first article in her new job in the journal.

Musk said in separate X's responses Friday that Long was “a disgusting and cruel person” and “should be fired immediately.”

Vice President JD Vance was heavier on Friday with X, opposed to some of Erez's posts, but said it shouldn't “smash the lives of children.” (Mr. Erez is 25 years old.)

“We should not reward journalists who try to destroy people, Vance wrote.

The Wall Street Journal did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Journalists have jobs and should not be attacked by government officials to do so,” Timothy Richardson, director of Journalism and Disformation Programs for Penn America, a free-expressing nonprofit, said in a statement. It states.

He added: “Mask's call for the journalist's firing is inconsistent with his self-proclaimed defense of freedom of speech and reveals his hypocrisy.”

Action is nothing new for Trump. During his first term, he frequently criticized notable journalists, including Jim Acosta of CNN, Katie Tul of NBC News, and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times.

Since taking office in January, Trump has quickly transformed what he calls “fake news media.” He recounted his true social statement this week that the agency gave “billions of dollars” to news organizations as “in return” to create a good story about the Democratic Party. It promoted false claims.

In fact, the numbers quoted show the millions of dollars paid in subscriptions to media outlets and professional subscription services.

Trump's administration has said it will cancel several government subscriptions to the press as it seeks to cut government spending. White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt told reporters the Trump administration will cancel all government politics subscriptions. The Times reported Thursday that the Agriculture Department had cancelled its subscription to Politico Pro, Politico's professional subscription service that reports policies and laws.

In a note to readers on Thursday, Politico leader said that Politico is a privately owned company that has never received government funding.

“The government agencies that subscribe to do so through the standard public procurement process, just like any other tool they buy to become smarter and more efficient,” the statement said.