Crowd at Indiana rally cheers when Trump suggests he deserves an 'extension' on his presidency beyond two terms

Carolyn Kaster/AP

President Donald Trump speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Indiana, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally.

• President Donald Trump quipped about extending his presidency past a second term during a rally in Elkhart, Indiana.
• It's not the first time Trump joked about staying in the White House for longer than the eight-year maximum.
• Trump immediately walked back the comment.

Standing in front of a cheering crowd at a campaign rally in support of Mike Braun, the Republican nominee for Senate in Indiana, President Donald Trump quipped about extending his presidency past a second term.

Trump immediately walked back the comment and took a jab at the media outlets, saying they would be "happy" when he's no longer in office.

"When I'm not here, their ratings are going to sink," Trump said, following his yearslong crusade against news outlets he dislikes.

Trump went on a Twitter tirade against The New York Times and other media outlets on Wednesday, and suggested taking away some of their press credentials.

"The Fake News is working overtime," Trump said in a tweet. "Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?"

Trump also referenced an article from The Times, which reported on secretary of state Mike Pompeo's recent trip to North Korea that "perplexed European diplomats" at a time when Trump was announcing the US's exit from the Iran deal, a move that left America's allies in Europe scrambling for answers from a seemingly unresponsive US, the newspaper reported.

Conservative media outlets interpreted the article with their own headlines, such as Fox News' "New York Times slams AWOL Pompeo, then learns he was rescuing Americans."

"The Failing New York Times criticized Secretary of State Pompeo for being AWOL (missing), when in fact he was flying to North Korea," Trump said on Twitter. "Fake News, so bad!"

CNN host Brian Stelter took exception to the headlines, and shed light on the substance of The Times's article.

Stelter's tweet reads: "To be clear, the NYT never used the terms 'AWOL,' or 'missing.' The story said Pompeo was flying to North Korea, and explained why the trip's timing 'perplexed' European diplomats. But [Fox News] SAID the story was about Pompeo being 'AWOL,'" so that's what Trump tweeted.