On stage in West Palm Beach in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Donald Trump thanked his supporters, his family and his campaign team as he declared victory in the US presidential race. There is one group that is not included in the former president’s thank you cards: the media, which he called “the enemy camp.”

Introducing his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, Trump said: “I told JD to go into the enemy camp. He just says, okay. Which one? CNN? MSNBC? He’s the one guy who looks forward to moving on, and then absolutely erases them.

Trump has had an antagonistic relationship with the American press for years, often labeling them the “shadowy media” and calling them the “enemy of the people.” But as the Republican candidate has stepped up his rhetoric against his perceived opponents in recent weeks, he has also intensified his attacks on reporters.

The comment during Trump’s victory speech came less than a week after he joked at a campaign rally that he wouldn’t worry about reporters being shot at if there was another assassination attempt on him.

During meandering comments at a rally in Pennsylvania last week, Trump complained about holes in the bulletproof shields that surrounded him after a gunman opened fire on him at a rally in July.

“To get me, someone would have to go through the fake news and I don’t mind that,” he said.

The press, he added, was made up of “seriously corrupt people.”

Trump’s communications director later claimed in a statement that the comments were likely an attempt to look out for the welfare of the news media.

Trump on Wednesday morning claimed victory over his Democratic opponent in the presidential race, Kamala Harris, and promised to bring the United States a “golden age.”

“This was a movement like no one has ever seen before, and honestly, I believe, this was the greatest political movement of all time. There has never been anything like this in this country, and perhaps beyond,” Trump said.