Crowd at Davos boos after Trump attacks media as 'fake'

Denis Balibouse/Reuters

President Donald Trump

• After his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Donald Trump sat down to answer a few questions.
• In one answer Trump attacked one of his most frequent targets - the media - saying he never realized "how fake the press can be."
• Many members of the crowd booed after his comment.

President Donald Trump's impromptu attack on the press Friday drew boos and groans during a question and answer session at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

After a speech on the US economic agenda, Trump sat down with WEF founder Klaus Schwab for a short discussion. During one answer, Trump steered into one of his favorite topics: media criticism.

"As a businessman I was always treated really well by the press. You know, the numbers speak and things happen, but I've always had 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."

His comments drew boos from the assembled crowd. According to those gathered in the room, the jeering was apparently directed at Trump.

"Foreign journos sitting next to me booed Trump's attack on the press," tweeted Ishaan Tharoor, a foreign affairs writer at The Washington Post.

"BOOS for Trump in Davos when he said on stage the news media is fake," Jennifer Jacobs, White House reporter at Bloomberg, tweeted.

Watch Trump's comments below:

Reporters on the ground said the crowd did not appreciate references to the recently passed GOP tax law, either.

"HISSING in the audience at the reference to his tax package," tweeted Katie Martin of the Financial Times, who added the fake-news comment drew "boos and some (ironic?) applause."

Trump's speech otherwise stuck to his typical talking points: trade must be fair, he said, while he praised the tax bill, the stock market's gains during his presidency, and his effort to dismantle many regulations on businesses.