WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has released a campaign advertisement declaring his first 100 days in the White House a success, and branding news that media have reported otherwise as "Fake News".
The 30-second television advertisement released on Monday was the latest example of Trump's extraordinarily early return to politicking at a time when most Presidents would be spending their time pushing through their highest legislative priorities, The News York Times reported.
Trump, after rejecting the 100-day mark as an indicator of the success or failure of his presidency, sat for several interviews and dispatched his top advisers for virtually non-stop briefings.
Trump's aides made the case that he had accomplished significant things since taking office, despite his lack of major legislative achievements.
"America has rarely seen such success," the narrator said in the add, listing the confirmation of Justice Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, companies investing in the US, the elimination of "regulations that kill American jobs" and the approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
"The biggest tax cut plan in history," the voice intoned, without mentioning that Trump has yet to offer any legislation - or even a set of policy prescriptions - for reordering the tax code to achieve the enormous cuts for businesses and individuals that he has endorsed.
"You wouldn't know it from watching the news," it said, showing the faces of anchors for mainstream news broadcasters as the words "FAKE NEWS" flash across the screen in large red letters.
The New York Times said the spot did not mention Trump's failed attempt to push through a health care overhaul, after having vowed that the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act would be his earliest priority.
Nor is there any reference to his attempts to crack down on illegal immigration, which have largely stalled.
Congress has refused to provide any money for the border wall that was a powerful symbol during the Trump campaign, and courts have blocked two of his efforts to bar travellers from on six predominantly Muslim countries.
The advertisement is paid for by Trump's re-election campaign, for which he filed papers in January, on the day he was sworn in.
His campaign said it would spend $1.5 million to air the advertisement throughout the country, a relatively small sum that does not indicate a major national public relations campaign.
