Trump slams Facebook as lawmakers await ads amid Russia probe
U.S. President Donald Trump  delivers remarks on proposed changes to the U.S. tax code at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis  Indiana  U.S. September 27  2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
WASHINGTON  (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump  on Wednesday criticized Facebook Inc (FB.O) as  âanti-Trump â and questioned  its  role during the 2016 presidential campaign  amid probes into alleged Russian interference in the election and possible collusion by  Trumpâs  associates.
 His  salvo came as the social media giant prepares to hand over 3 000 political ads to congressional investigators that it has said were likely purchased by Russian entities during and after last yearâs presidential contest.
 Trump  appeared to embrace the focus on the social media network in  his  comments on Wednesday  which also took aim at more traditional medial outlets  long targeted by the president as âfake news.â
âFacebook was always  anti-Trump . The networks were always  anti-Trump  â  Trump  said on Twitter  levelling the same charge against the New York Times and the Washington Post. âCollusion?â
Related Coverage Facebook's Zuckerberg defends company after critical  Trump  tweet
Representatives for Facebook and the newspapers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on  Trumpâs  tweet.
Facebook and other technology companies are coming under increased scrutiny amid the Russia investigations. The probes  being conducted by several congressional committees along with the Department of Justice  have clouded Trumpâs tenure since taking office in January and threatened his agenda  which has yet to secure a major legislative victory.
 Trump  himself has previously praised Facebook and credited it with helping  him  win the November election.  His  campaign has said it spent some $70 million on Facebook ads  and it also ran a live Facebook show.
 His  latest comments did not appear to affect shares of the company  which were up 1.4 percent at $166.50 a share in late morning trading after analysts raised their price target for the stock.
[TGT] delivers remarks on proposed changes to the U.S. tax code at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis  Indiana  U.S. September 27  2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
WASHINGTON   [TGT] on Wednesday criticized Facebook Inc (FB.O) as  âanti [TGT]  â and questioned  its  role during the 2016 presidential campaign  amid probes into alleged Russian interference in the election and possible collusion by  Trumpâs  associates.
  [TGT]   salvo came as the social media giant prepares to hand over 3 000 political ads to congressional investigators that it has said were likely purchased by Russian entities during and after last yearâs presidential contest.
  [TGT] appeared to embrace the focus on the social media network in   [TGT]   comments on Wednesday  which also took aim at more traditional medial outlets  long targeted by the president as âfake news.â
âFacebook was always  anti-Trump . The networks were always  anti-Trump  â   [TGT] said on Twitter  levelling the same charge against the New York Times and the Washington Post. âCollusion?â
Related Coverage Facebook's Zuckerberg defends company after critical   [TGT]   tweet
Representatives for Facebook and the newspapers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on  Trumpâs  tweet.
Facebook and other technology companies are coming under increased scrutiny amid the Russia investigations. The probes  being conducted by several congressional committees along with the Department of Justice  have clouded Trumpâs tenure since taking office in January and threatened his agenda  which has yet to secure a major legislative victory.
  [TGT]  has previously praised Facebook and credited it with helping   [TGT]   win the November election.   [TGT]   campaign has said it spent some $70 million on Facebook ads  and it also ran a live Facebook show.
  [TGT]   latest comments did not appear to affect shares of the company  which were up 1.4 percent at $166.50 a share in late morning trading after analysts raised their price target for the stock.