Journalists boo as Trump attacks ‘nasty press’ in Davos

Donald Trump attacked political reporters during the World Economic Forum on Friday, and his audience gasped in surprise.

Some journalists in the back of the room let out unmistakable ‘boos,’ sources said, while billionaires who came to hear Trump preach his prosperity gospel gasped in astonishment.

Others laughed and applauded. A few directed their booing to the media, according to an eyewitness in the room.

The U.S. president has blasted the press since early in his campaign, complaining about ‘fake news’ reports that depressed his poll numbers and continue to dog his White House tenure.

But Friday marked his first major swipe at them on foreign soil, and some reporters who hadn’t heard it before fired back from the peanut gallery.

The president joked that some of the TV cameras in the back would stop filming him after he attacked them; some in the crowd directed their audible booing toward the reporters

White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, center and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, second from left, listened to Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

Trump’s address came on the closing day of the World Economic Forum, a confab of heads of state, influential executives, bankers and policy makers

‘I’ve always seemed to get for whatever reason, a disproportionate amount of press or media, and – throughout my whole life – somebody will explain some day why, but I’ve always gotten a lot,’ Trump said, drawing chuckles from savvy business leaders who have watched his bombastic personality fuel his financial rise for decades.

‘And as a businessman I was always treated really well by the press. You know, the numbers speak and things happen, but I’ve always really had a really good press,’ trump said.  

And it wasn’t until I became a politician that I realized how nasty, how mean, how vicious, and how fake the press can be,’ he continued, quipping that he could see ‘cameras start going off in the back’ of the hall. 

That’s when a quick burst of booing and audible gasps peppered the Davos venue. 

None of the major networks broke away from live coverage. The WEF’s official video feed, however, which was airing with a slight delay, cut out the booing and resumed afterward. 

A pool reporter from The Wall Street Journal wrote that Trump ‘notably drew a round of boos when he criticized the media as “vicious”.’

But it quickly became clear that it was mainly journalists, not the global elites, who let their scorn fly.

‘Foreign journos sitting next to me booed Trump’s attack on the press,’ a Washington Post reporter in the room tweeted.

Others there described the crowd as ‘mesmerized’ and ‘entranced’ by the celebrity president. 

Some of the booing came from attendees who directed it at the cameras, another source told DailyMail.com, saying: ‘You could see heads turn around and a few people cupping their hands over their mouths, aimed at the reporters.’

The Davos audience was too big for the hall so organizers set up an adjoining room for overflow, and thrill-seekers posed for selfies against a backdrop of Trump on a big screen

Trump’s swipe at reporters came after he delivered a speech about American prosperity and the business climate his economic policies have created

Trump quickly moved on to suggest that he had overcome the negative press that he weathers every day in the White House.

‘Overall, I mean, the bottom line – somebody said, “Well, they couldn’t have been that bad. Here we are, we’re president.” And I think we’re doing a really great job.’

Trump’s latest accusation of unfair press came Friday following a New York Times report that Trump intended to fire special counsel Robert Mueller last summer, only to be yanked back when White House Counsel Don McGahn threatened to quit.

‘Fake news. Fake news. Typical New York Times. Fake stories,’ he said in the morning. 

The White House’s official transcript of Friday’s session notes only ‘laughter,’ not booing, during Trump’s remarks.