Donald Trump tweets media is the 'enemy of the American people'

US President Donald Trump has continued his attack on the mainstream media following his controversial press conference and has described journalists as the "enemy".

The Republican maverick, who used his first solo press conference to launch an attack on the press following a number of information leaks from the White House, took to Twitter to share his views.

Copying in several news outlets with whom he takes umbrage, he wrote:

In another tweet, Trump used comments by right-wing 'shock jock' Rush Limbaugh to praise his own press conference:

At that conference, Trump lambasted the media, claiming leaks involving news of his advisers having contact with Russia during the election was 'fake news'.

He acknowledged that the leaks were real but claimed their contents were not.

"The leaks are real, but the news is fake because so much of the news is fake," he said.

He added: "The first thing I thought when I saw this was how does the press get this classified information? You know why, because it's an illegal process. And the press should be ashamed of themselves.

"What happens when I'm dealing with North Korea? What happens when I'm dealing with the Middle East? Are you folks going to be reporting all that?

"We are going to stop it. That's why it's a criminal penalty."

The president did not cease his attack on the media as he continued his press conference, adding: "Tomorrow they will say 'Donald Trump rants and raves about the press'. I'm not ranting and raving. I'm just telling you, you are dishonest people."

White House press secretary Sean Spicer has pledged on several occasions to tackle the problem of information leaks, which is becoming a serious hindrance to Trump.