Trump 'threatened journalist with prison time' for taking photograph of letter from Kim Jong-un

President complains about magazine's coverage of him

Donald Trump appeared to threaten a journalist with jail time after they took a photograph of a letter he said had been sent to him by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

During an interview earlier this week with reporters from Time magazine, the president showed them a letter from the North Korean, who he said had dispatched it to him recently. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders intervened when a photographer took a photograph of it.

The interview then continued, but appeared to become testy when the topic of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe was brought up.

“Excuse me,” Mr Trump said. “Under Section II — well, you can go to prison instead, because, if you use, if you use the photograph you took of the letter I gave you…confidentially, I didn’t give it to you to take photographs of it. So don’t play that game with me.”

The reporter then asked of Mr Trump: “Were you threatening me with prison time?”

The president replied: “Well, I told you the following. I told you you can look at this off-the-record. That doesn’t mean you take out your camera and start taking pictures of it. OK? So I hope you don’t have a picture of it.”

Mr Trump, who has a love-hate relationship with the media, which he has referred to as the “enemy of the people” despite loving the attention he gets, then complained about the magazine’s coverage of him.

“So go have fun with your story. Because I’m sure it will be the 28th horrible story I have in Time magazine,” he said. “It’s incredible. With all I’ve done and the success I’ve had, the way that Time magazine writes is absolutely incredible.”

The White House has not immediately responded to enquiries about the interview.