US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump blamed what he called “fake news” for a wave of politically-linked violence in the runup to next week’s midterm congressional elections.

“The fake news is creating violence,” Trump told journalists at the White House.

A fanatical Trump supporter was arrested last week on suspicion of sending bombs to more than a dozen opponents of the president, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and CNN.

Another man, citing hatred of immigrants and Jews, slaughtered 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Trump was widely accused of stirring extremist sentiments with his frequent speeches against a supposed immigrant “invasion”.

“A lot of reporters are creating violence by not writing the truth,” he said.

If the media would write correctly and write accurately and write fairly, you’d have a lot less violence.

But Trump, who has been in a war of words with the journalists covering him since his presidential campaign, said the media had inflamed the situation.

Previously, Trump has claimed that journalists fail to give his achievements enough credit. At his frequent rallies ahead of the next week’s midterm elections, his references to the “fake news media” generate loud “boos” from the crowd.

Meanwhile, Trump signaled that he was about to impose sanctions on Iran over its alleged  nuclear programme by tweeting out a Game of Thrones-themed image.

The image, which had no caption, had “November 5″ on it, hinting that those sanctions would be announced on Monday.

HBO, the US channel that airs the hugely popular fantasy series, tweeted out a response: “How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?”

‘Dothraki’ is a fictional language that is spoken by some characters in the show.

Indications are that the Democrats will regain control of the House of Representatives but the Senate will stay in the hands of Republicans.

Trump’s hardline statements on migration and the media are thought to be indications that he’s trying to rally the Republican base to come out and vote during the Midterms, which historically have a lower turnout than presidential elections.