Donald Trump’s climb to the top of the Republican presidential field has put a spotlight on his dislike for the press, as both the candidate and his campaign team have made it a staple of his rallies to “hassle” journalists while leading supporters in anti-media chants.
Last November, for example, Trump’s campaign threatened to “blacklist” a CNN reporter, Noah Gray, after the journalist left a designated press holding area at a rally to cover a staged protest.
“[Gray] says he asked the Secret Service if there was any security issue involved in leaving the press area and entering the crowd, and Gray reports the answer was no,” TV Newser reported at the time. “But Trump campaign staffers were not happy, including Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.”
Lewandowski was caught on tape ordering Gray back into the designated media area and saying, “Inside the pen or I pull your credentials.”
Nearby reporters who witnessed the incident say they were “hassled” as they tried to document Gray’s encounter with Lewandowski.
But this sort of thing isn’t new, despite that many reporters now appear to be alarmed by Trump’s treatment of the press.
Trump has fought for decades to maintain a carefully crafted image as a strong and successful business leader, and he has made it clear he really doesn’t like it when unflattering things are said about him and his multi-billionaire dollar empire. He dislikes it so much, that punching back on negative reports, either directly or indirectly, is a regular part of his public dealings.
He has insulted reporters and entire newsrooms, threatened litigation and once even reportedly tried to bribe a journalist into writing a puff piece.
His biting anti-media remarks on the campaign trail, then, shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise when one considers his history of taking on reporters.
Here are six notable examples of when Trump and his team punched back on bad press:
6. I’m Very Rich:
In 2006, Trump brought a lawsuit against author Timothy O’Brien after his book, Trump Nation: The Art of Being the Donald, supposedly understated the former reality TV star’s personal wealth.
“O’Brien reported that three people close to Trump had estimated his worth at between $150 and $250 million. Trump, who said he had told O’Brien that he was worth between $4 billion and $6 billion, claimed that O’Brien’s low estimate had hurt his reputation and cost him specific business deals,” the Atlantic reported.
Trump’s lawsuit was later dismissed in July 2009. His appeal failed in September 2011.
“Essentially the judge just said ‘Trump is too famous,'” Trump told the Atlantic’s William D. Cohan. “‘He’s so famous that you’re allowed to say anything you want about him.’ Well, I disagree with that.”
5. No, Really, I’m Very Rich:
Trump was again enraged in 2011 after MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell challenged the mogul over his personal wealth.
The cable news host said it was unlikely that Trump was worth $1 billion, and the real estate mogul responded by threatening litigation.
“I heard, because his show is unwatchable, that @Lawrence has made many false statements last night about me,” Trump said on social media. “Maybe I should sue him?”
O’Donnell laughed off the threat, calling it “awfully soft.”
“I know his big secret, his biggest secret, and he knows that I know it: Donald Trump cannot afford to sue me,” he said in his own note on social media.
4. Why Do People Doubt My Wealth?
In 2007, the casino tycoon threatened the Los Angeles Times’ David Lazarus after the reporter wrote an unflattering article about a three-day Trump seminar that promised to teach people how to purchase “distressed properties at below-market prices and then selling them to others for more money.”
“Donald Trump wasn’t happy with Wednesday’s column about his seminars on profiting from the foreclosure market,” the reporter claimed. “I know this because I was instructed by his executive assistant to give Trump a call after the column ran, and when Trump came on the line, he told me that my work was ‘inaccurate and libelous.'”
When Lazarus asked Trump what, exactly, was incorrect in his report, the current GOP front-runner reportedly said, “You’ll find out in court.”
“Trump subsequently spoke with my boss and said, among other things, that I’m a ‘nasty guy’ and third-rate reporter. My boss told me afterward not to take the criticism to heart. He said I’m at least a second-rate reporter,” Lazarus wrote.
3. Team Trump Does His Bidding:
Trump’s attorney threatened to ruin a reporter in August 2015, after the Daily Beast published a story revealing that the billionaire businessman’s ex-wife, Ivana Trump, once accused her former husband of sexual assault.
“I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,” Michael Cohen, special counsel at The Trump Organization, told the Beast’s Tim Mak. “So I’m warning you, tread very f—ing lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be f—ing disgusting. You understand me?”
“You write a story that has Mr. Trump’s name in it, with the word ‘rape,’ and I’m going to mess your life up … for as long as you’re on this frickin’ planet,” he added, “you’re going to have judgments against you, so much money, you’ll never know how to get out from underneath it.”
2. Bribery:
Author Mark Bowden, who wrote the bestselling Black Hawk Down, claimed in December 2015 that Trump once tried to bribe him into writing a positive profile for Playboy.
The moment allegedly occurred after Bowden witnessed Trump throwing a fit over the appearance of his tennis court.
“I guess that’ll have to be in your story,” Trump is reported to have said.
“Pretty much,” Bowden replied.
The author said this appeared to worry Trump, who later tried to get Bowden to omit the unflattering detail from his profile.
“I’m looking for somebody to write my next book,” Trump told Bowden.
The author said he declined.
“Why not?” Trump pressed. “All my books become best-sellers.”
Bowden recalled last year in an article that appeared in Vanity Fair, “The import was clear. There was money in it for me. Trump remains the only person I have ever written about who tried to bribe me.”
1. Words Hurt:
Trump called on the Federal Communications Commission to punish National Review editor-in-chief Rich Lowry after the conservative pundit claimed GOP candidate Carly Fiorina had figuratively castrated the businessman during a primary debate.
“Incompetent @RichLowry lost it tonight on @FoxNews. He should not be allowed on TV and the FCC should fine him!” Trump said on social media.
His complaint came after Lowry said in a Fox News interview that Fiorina had “cut [Trump’s] balls off with the precision of a surgeon.”
