Trump threatens to jail reporter for taking photo of letter from 'friend' Kim Jong Un
Trump got angry with reporters after they looked at his friendship letter from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Trump threatened reporters from Time magazine with prison after they took a photo of a letter he showed them.
He sat down for an interview with Time magazine on Monday. During the meeting, he handed reporters a letter he’d just received from North Korean dictator and “friend” Kim Jong-un.
Trump showed reporters the letter while he was being asked about the Democratic presidential field. It is unclear what the letter has to do with the presidential election.
“O.K., now I’m going to show you this letter,” Trump said. “So this was written by Kim Jong Un. It was delivered to me yesterday. By hand.”
The Time reporter snapped a quick photo of the letter but was immediately told by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders not to use the picture.
Trump then asked reporters to go off-the-record, something he did several times during the interview.
Later, as they discussed his attempts to obstruct justice as detailed in the Mueller report, Trump lashed out and threatened the reporters, telling them “you can go to prison” if they were to use the photograph they took of the letter “that I gave you confidentially.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. President. Were you threatening me with prison time?” the Time reporter asked.
“I told you you can look at this off-the-record. That doesn’t mean you take out your camera and start taking pictures of it. O.K.? So I hope you don’t have a picture of it. I know you were very quick to pull it out — even you were surprised to see that. You can’t do that stuff,” Trump replied.
He then continued to rant.
“So go have fun with your story. Because I’m sure it will be the 28th horrible story I have in Time magazine because I never — I mean — ha. It’s incredible. With all I’ve done and the success I’ve had, the way that Time magazine writes is absolutely incredible.”
Despite the exchange, the cover of the issue with the interview is a flattering shot of Trump in the Oval Office.
Trump is still openly hostile to reporters even though he gets an avalanche of press coverage. Threatening to jail them for documenting his correspondence with his dictator “friend” is just the latest expression of his disdain.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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