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After Special Counsel Named, Trump Reacts: 'Greatest Witch Hunt' In Political History

President Trump gives the commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
Susan Walsh
/
AP
President Trump gives the commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.

Updated at 10:46 a.m. ET

The morning after former FBI Director Robert Mueller was named special counsel to oversee the investigation into the Trump team ties to Russia, President Trump is declaring "this" the "single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!"

It's another example of Trump going to grievance politics after a week of missteps and revelatory leaks.

On Wednesday, Trump struck a similarly victimized tone while delivering the commencement speech to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

"Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media," he said. "No politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or more unfairly."

Trump could make his first remarks on the special counsel appointment later Thursday when he meets with the Colombian president at the White House. They are expected to take questions from reporters in the afternoon.

Editor's note: Trump deleted the original tweet because it misspelled "counsel" as "councel." Once that tweet was deleted, it no longer showed up on our site, so we replaced it with the new one with the corrected spelling.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Domenico Montanaro is NPR's senior political editor/correspondent. Based in Washington, D.C., his work appears on air and online delivering analysis of the political climate in Washington and campaigns. He also helps edit political coverage.