Trump slams ‘sick degenerates’ in media over ‘fake’ claim that Putin made US envoy wait for 9 hours

US President Donald Trump on Saturday (March 15) blasted media outlets for allegedly spreading this ‘fake news’ that Russian President Vladimir Putin made his close aide Steve Witkoff wait for nine hours. Taking to his Truth Social media platform, Trump insisted there was “no nine-hour wait” and his “highly respected ambassador and special representative” had several productive meetings.

“Yesterday evening I read that Russian President Vladimir Putin made my highly respected ambassador and special representative Steve Witkoff wait for more than nine hours, although there was actually no waiting,” Trump wrote.

“There were other meetings with other representatives of Russia, and, obviously, they took some time, but they were very productive. From that moment on, everything went quickly and efficiently, and all signs, I hope, are very good! In conclusion, there was no nine-hour wait or any wait at all!” He wrote further.

The US leader added that the media “invented” this story to demean and humiliate.

“The only reason they made up that story is to try and DEMEAN, because they are sick degenerates, that have to start reporting the News correctly. This is why they have lost their ratings, their audience, and respect. Thank you for your attention to this matter and, GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

Sky News earlier reported that Trump’s special envoy Witkoff had to wait for more than eight hours for a meeting with Putin, who was reportedly busy meeting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the time.

A day earlier, on March 14, Trump criticised major news networks during a speech at the Department of Justice, suggesting their reporting should be considered illegal and investigated.

“I believe that CNN and MS-DNC, who literally write 97.6% bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat [sic] party and in my opinion, they’re really corrupt and they’re illegal, what they do is illegal,” Trump claimed.

He compared media outlets to political operatives, arguing that their actions should not be allowed.

“These networks and these newspapers are really no different than a highly paid political operative,” Trump said, labelling CNN and MSNBC as “corrupt.”

“And it has to stop, it has to be illegal, it’s influencing judges and it’s really changing law, and it just cannot be legal. I don’t believe it’s legal, and they do it in total coordination with each other,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)