Trump kicks prez media blitz into overdrive

As Donald Trump’s White House aspirations reverberate around the media each day, a White House official tried to downplay his sudden adoption of the “birther” platform, calling Trump’s antics “a sideshow.” But as the Daily News reported, Trump perceived the diss differently, saying it shows President Barack Obama’s aides view him as a legitimate threat in the president’s bid for reelection. “They don’t talk about any other candidate,” he said. Accordingly, hypothetical polls show Trump matches President Obama’s popularity, a finding he wanted to test in Iowa. Meanwhile, the real estate tycoon appeared on CNBC this morning, blaming Obama for high oil prices that he said are sure to doom the country. While Trump has taken to the offensive ever since going public with his plans to run for the country’s highest office, he’s also taken some time to defend himself to his most widely-read critics. Trump penned a letter to the New York Times this past Friday, in response to a Gail Collins column in the same publication, and also mailed a package of critiqued Vanity Fair website printouts to the magazine’s editor. One article he critiqued cited a 2009 Forbes article that estimated Trump’s net worth to be $1.9 billion. Trump made a point of calling that figure “billions too low.” TRD