In this Jan. 10, 2018, photo, Victoria Steel, 50 of Cheyenne, Wyo. talks about President Trump and the media. Americans say they are increasingly confused and concerned about who can be trusted to tell them the truth about what’s happening in Washington these days. Interviews and research from President Donald Trump’s first year in office suggest Americans are scanning outlets for information about their government and their president. Steel says it's important for people to invest the time needed to find the truth about issues in the news rather than relying on sound bites and tweets.
In this Jan. 10, 2018, photo, Victoria Steel, 50 of Cheyenne, Wyo. talks about President Trump and the media. Americans say they are increasingly confused and concerned about who can be trusted to tell them the truth about what’s happening in Washington these days. Interviews and research from President Donald Trump’s first year in office suggest Americans are scanning outlets for information about their government and their president. Steel says it's important for people to invest the time needed to find the truth about issues in the news rather than relying on sound bites and tweets. Bob Moen AP Photo
In this Jan. 10, 2018, photo, Victoria Steel, 50 of Cheyenne, Wyo. talks about President Trump and the media. Americans say they are increasingly confused and concerned about who can be trusted to tell them the truth about what’s happening in Washington these days. Interviews and research from President Donald Trump’s first year in office suggest Americans are scanning outlets for information about their government and their president. Steel says it's important for people to invest the time needed to find the truth about issues in the news rather than relying on sound bites and tweets. Bob Moen AP Photo

National

Trust and truth under Trump: Americans are in a quandary

By LAURIE KELLMAN and JONATHAN DREW Associated Press

January 14, 2018 08:18 AM

RALEIGH, N.C.

Americans say they're increasingly confused and concerned about who can be trusted to tell them the truth about what's happening in Washington these days.

That's according to interviews and polling over President Donald Trump's first year in office, when he's repeated falsehoods and attacked what he calls the "fake news" media.

Americans report they're scanning various outlets of information, including Trump's Twitter feed, and that they trust no outlet in particular. Many say they began consuming news about Washington differently since Trump won the presidency in 2016.

A Pew Research Center survey last month found that about 2 in 3 American adults say fabricated news stories cause a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current affairs.