Donald Trump hits back at Boston Globe's front page imagining his 'profoundly un-American' presidency

Donald Trump has hit back at The Boston Globe after the paper printed a parody front page envisioning what the Republican candidate's presidency could look like. Trump derided the news organisation as "worthless" and "stupid" for leading with a fake story dated 9 April 2017 which reads: "Deportations to begin."

The splash is accompanied by a picture of the new president of the US addressing the nation in a televised address along with a strap which says: "Trump: Deport illegals so fast your head will spin'". The GOP has made a series of highly controversial remarks about immigrants in the US over the course of the campaign trail.

The billionaire businessman has threatened to build a wall between the US and Mexico, forcing its southern neighbour to pay for the construction costs. He has also said he wants to deport 11 million people living illegally in the country.

Other stories featured on the satirical front page paint a turbulent picture of the US under Trump. They include "US soldiers refuse orders to kill Isis families" and "new libel laws targets 'absolute scum' in press." But 2017 is not shaping up to be too bad a year for President Trump with The Boston Globe joking that he made it onto the Nobel prize shortlist.

Explaining the motivation behind the spoof, an editorial said that Trump's "vision for the future of our nation is as deeply disturbing as it is profoundly un-American."

It continued: "It is an exercise in taking a man at his word. And his vision of America promises to be as appalling in real life as it is in black and white on the page. It is a vision that demands an active and engaged opposition. It requires an opposition as focused on denying Trump the White House as the candidate is flippant and reckless about securing it."

The front page prompted a strong backlash from Trump. Speaking from a campaign trail in Rochester, New York on 10 April, the GOP candidate said: "How about that stupid Boston Globe, it's worthless, sold for a dollar.

"Did you see that story? The whole front page; they made up a story, they pretended Trump is the president, and they made up the whole front page, it's a make-believe story, which is really no different from the whole paper," he added.

The Boston Globe also branded Trump's GOP rival Ted Cruz as "an equally extreme and perhaps more dangerous nominee" and called on the Republican party to instead draft "an honourable and decent man, like [Mitt] Romney or [Paul] Ryan."