'Disgusting,' 'garbage country': Trump's language turns increasingly crude

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly lashed out at reporters with near-abusive language in response to questions he dislikes.

During a question-and-answer session with White House reporters on Thursday (local time), Trump was asked whether his decision not to travel to Kansas was due to travel fatigue. "You're crazy to ask something like that," Trump snapped, then demanded to know which outlet the reporter worked for, Yonhap reported.

The question was aimed at finding out why Trump had canceled planned campaign rallies in Kansas and Iowa scheduled for this weekend ahead of the midterm elections.

When the reporter identified as being from Reuters, Trump shot back, "You're a crazy person."

Visibly seething, Trump added, "Reuters is terrible. I'm perfectly fine. You're disgusting. Take care of yourself. You look terrible."

Trump had planned to visit Kansas and Iowa this weekend — the final weekend before the midterm elections — but canceled the trips. Reports indicate Trump has since reversed course and plans to resume the schedule.

Trump argued there was no need to visit because Republican candidates were already performing well in both states, but Kansas and Iowa are widely regarded as competitive Senate races. Some analysts have suggested that a last-minute visit from Trump could backfire, as enthusiasm for Trump in both states has cooled, turning them into battlegrounds.

Trump also raised his voice at a reporter on Oct. 20, cutting off a journalist from the British newspaper The Independent who was trying to ask about plans to renovate a public golf course in Washington, D.C., during a press session at the White House. "Be quiet," Trump told the reporter.

"Why are you doing that?" Trump said. "Are you crazy?"

Trump has proposed renovating a public golf course long used by Washington, D.C., residents to host major tournaments, but a court has moved to block the plan, which critics say was pursued unilaterally.

Some analysts have suggested the increasingly sharp outbursts may reflect growing irritability as the US midterm elections draw near.

Trump also directed crude insults at Norway after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year, calling it a "garbage country."

According to Reuters, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in an interview with Norwegian public broadcaster NRK on Monday (local time) that Trump was venting frustration over the Nobel Prize at the wrong target. Eide suggested that Trump, in full campaign mode ahead of the midterms, had become increasingly vocal because the party's prospects were not looking particularly good, Yonhap reported at the time.

Earlier, Trump repeated a longstanding claim that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize at a weekend campaign rally in Port Huron, Michigan, saying he had "solved eight wars" with two more on the way.

"I don't like Norway. Frankly, Norway has become a terrible country — it's literally become a 'shit house country,'" Trump told the rally. "I don't want any relationship with Norway."

Trump also blamed recent unrest in France during anti-inflation protests on immigration, saying he would welcome immigrants from some countries but not from Norway — "because they didn't give me the Nobel Prize," Trump said.