Alec Baldwin says Trump's latest attack on Saturday Night Live is 'a threat to my safety'

On Sunday, the president launched into an angry Twitter rant after Baldwin reprised his Trump impersonation on the show

Alec Baldwin has suggested that Donald Trump’s latest attack on Saturday Night Live constitutes as a threat to his personal safety and that of his family.

On Sunday, the president launched into an angry Twitter rant after Baldwin reprised his Trump impersonation for a cold opening mocking his Friday announcement from the White House Rose Garden, where he declared a national emergency.

“Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC!” Trump wrote. “Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!”

He then added: “THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”

Baldwin tweeted in response: “I wonder if a sitting President exhorting his followers that my role in a TV comedy qualifies me as an enemy of the people constitutes a threat to my safety and that of my family?”

The president has previously suggested that NBC, which airs Saturday Night Live, should have its station licenses challenged.

Trump’s decision to circumvent lawmakers in his efforts to fulfil a campaign promise and build a wall across the US-Mexico Border has faced backlash from members of his own party, who called the move “a mistake”.

“I wish he wouldn’t have done it,” said Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.

Democrats also branded the national emergency as “fake” and unnecessary. Progressive newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Texas Democrat Joaquin Castro announced a new resolution that would rebuke the measure and could potentially block plans for the wall if enough Republicans were to support that move, leading to a foolproof majority.