Lawyer Amal Clooney has joined UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in criticising Donald Trump's attacks on the media, saying the US President has emboldened individuals who wish to persecute journalists, according to The Guardian. 'The country of James Madison has a leader today who vilifies the media, making honest journalists all over the world more vulnerable to abuse,' said Clooney, referencing the former President who helped ensure freedom of speech is enshrined in the US Constitution. Hunt, who appeared alongside Clooney at a media freedom conference in central London, also criticised Trump for calling journalists the 'enemy of the people'. 'We have to remember that what we say can have an impact in other countries where we can't take press freedom for granted.' The pair was speaking at the Global Conference for Media Freedom. 'Media freedom is not a western value but a universal value. It frees a society from the abuse of power,' he said. However, the event also showed some of the contradictions inherent in the government calling for press freedom while maintaining close relations with governments such as that of Saudi Arabia, which was implicated in the brutal murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.