In shift, Trump praises media

Donald Trump praised the media in a victory speech on Tuesday, a shift for the GOP presidential front-runner who now has an eye on the general election.

Speaking to supporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan after claiming victories in all five states holding primaries Tuesday, Trump acknowledged that he’s gotten a fair shake from the press of late.

“The media has covered me very, very fair for the last two hours,” Trump said to laughs. “They’ve been really fair over the past few weeks.”

{mosads}Trump has in the past lashed out at the media and even singled out individual reporters for scorn.

At his massive rallies, reporters are kept inside a pen that’s usually positioned toward the back or middle of the arena. Many times, Trump will point to the pen to say how disgusted he is by the dishonest coverage coming from the reporters on the trail.

Trump’s message on Tuesday was the opposite of rival Ted Cruz’s, who predicted before the polls closed that the media would be ready to crown Trump the nominee because he’s the weakest candidate to face off against Hillary Clinton in the fall.

“Tonight, Donald Trump is expected to have a good night,” Cruz said. “He’s likely to win some states, and the media is going to have heart palpitations this evening. And the media is going to say the race is over. The media is going to say Donald Trump is the Republican nominee.

“Every one of them are ready for Hillary,” Cruz said.