'Don't talk to me': Trump claims CNN made up report that Kim Jong-un is ill in angry outburst at female reporter

'No that's enough. The problem is you don't write the truth'

Donald Trump has said he believes reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is gravely ill were made up by CNN, as he launched an angry attack on one of the network's reporters at a White House briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.

Asked if he heard any more about the condition of the dictator, whom he has previously said he "loves", the president said: "I think the report was incorrect, let me just put it that way."

Gesturing towards CNN reporter Kaitlin Collins, he continued: "I think the report was done by a network that was incorrect. I'm hearing they used old documents. But that's what I hear. I hear that the report was an incorrect report. Well I hope it was an incorrect report."

Collins, acknowledging that Mr Trump had pointed towards her, asked if he had made any contact with the North Koreans.

The president replied: "I don't want to say. I won't say that. We have a good relationship with North Korea – as good as you can have. I mean, we have a good relationship with North Korea. I have a good relationship with Kim Jong-un and I hope he's OK.

"And somebody would say 'Oh, that's terrible'. No, it's not terrible, I hope he's OK.

"And I think it was a fake report, done by CNN."

As Collins tried to ask a follow-up, Mr Trump waved her away and said: "No that's enough. The problem is you don't write the truth so, as far as I'm concerned I want to go to the next person."

As the reporter continued to try to ask him a question, the president snapped: "No, not CNN please. I told you: CNN is fake news, don't talk to me."

Rumours about Mr Kim's health emerged after he failed to appear at one of the most important public events in the North Korean calendar, the anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, his grandfather and the founder of the secretive communist dictatorship.

A South Korean news website, Daily NK, claimed the 36-year-old had undergone heart surgery. It originally cited multiple sources but later issued a correction saying that its story was based on information from one person inside North Korea.

CNN reported that the US government was monitoring the situation.