Trump ramps up attacks against big newspapers

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump lashed out at The New York Times and The Washington Post on Sunday, as tensions between the White House and some of the nation's mainstream media continue to grow.

"A poll should be done on which is the more dishonest and deceitful newspaper, the Failing New York Times or the Amazon (lobbyist) Washington Post!" Trump wrote in a pair of tweets.

The president called the newspapers "a disgrace" and "the Enemy of the People," rhetoric he has used frequently during his tenure in the White House.

Those attacks came a day after he claimed that The New York Times committed a "virtual act of treason" by reporting on the administration's digital attacks against Russia.

"Do you believe that the Failing New York Times just did a story stating that the United States is substantially increasing Cyber Attacks on Russia," Trump tweeted Saturday.

He dismissed the report as "not true," calling it "a virtual act of Treason by a once great paper so desperate for a story, any story, even if bad for our Country."

The New York Times published a report on Saturday about the nation's efforts to penetrate Russia's power grid with cyber tools.

In a response to the president's criticism, The New York Times tweeted on Saturday that "accusing the press of treason is dangerous."