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 announced victory in the US presidential election. One group not on the former president's thank you cards: the media, which he described as “the enemy's camp.”

Introducing his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, Trump said: “I told JD to go to the enemy camp. He simply says: OK. Which? CNN? MSNBC? He’s like the only one who gets excited about moving on and then just completely wipes them out.”

Trump has had a hostile relationship with the US press for years, often referring to it as a “crooked media” and an “enemy of the people.” But as the Republican nominee stepped up his rhetoric against his perceived opponents in recent weeks, he also stepped up his attacks on reporters.

The comment during Trump's victory speech came less than a week after he joked during a campaign rally that he had no concerns about reporters being shot if there was another assassination attempt against him.

At a rally in Pennsylvania last week, Trump complained about gaps 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 sift through the fake news, and that doesn’t bother me that much,” he said.

The press, he added, are “severely corrupt people.”

Trump's communications director later claimed in a statement that the comments were supposedly an attempt to look out for the well-being of the news media.

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

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