Donald J. Trump said this in reaction to the Annapolis Capital-Gazette massacre of five newspaper employees: “Journalists, like all Americans should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their job.”

Indeed, Mr. President. Thank you for those words. This former journalist appreciates your (possible) newfound respect for the work that journalists do in service to their communities and to the country.

But they come so soon after yet another full-on assault by the president himself on the media. He continues to call the media the nation’s top “enemy,” and calls them the “enemy of the American people.”

Which is it, Mr. President? Are the media the enemy? Or are they just like all Americans who are doing the work they are trained to do?

I’ll hold out hope that it’s the latter and that the president finally might dial back the vicious rhetoric he spews against the media.