US President Donald Trump has accused popular satirical comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) of being an “ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE” in a furious Twitter attack Monday morning (Australian time).

The latest episode of SNL featured the return of actor Alec Baldwin in the role of Mr Trump, declaring a national emergency at the southern US border.

“Wall works, wall makes safe,” Baldwin’s President Trump said in the show’s opening.

“You don’t have to be smart to understand that – in fact, it’s even easier to understand if you’re not that smart,” he declares.

"And now, a message from the President of the United States." #SNL pic.twitter.com/0ccznbP6Qk

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 17, 2019

Mr Trump was clearly not amused by the portrayal of his controversial decision to declare a national emergency over border protection.

“Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC!” he said on Twitter.

Mr Trump even went as far as to accuse the show and its network of “collusion”, without naming who they were supposedly colluding with, saying it should be “looked into”.

Minutes later, he expanded his anger to include the media at large, tweeting: “THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”

Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019

THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019

The American Civil Liberties Union defended SNL and rebuked Mr Trump in a four-word Twitter post in reply, simply saying: “It’s called the First Amendment.”

The first amendment to the US Constitution, adopted in 1791, enshrines freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and the right to peaceable assembly.

Baldwin’s portrayal of Mr Trump has been a mainstay on SNL over the past two years, and the popular parodies rarely fail to elicit a response from the President.

In December, Mr Trump publicly pondered legal action against the show for what he claimed was the “real scandal of one-sided coverage”.

In a parody of the classic Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life, SNL‘s last show of 2018 presented an alternate world where Mr Trump was not elected US leader.

Among other things, Melania Trump had divorced her husband and Robert Mueller (Robert De Niro) said he never had to launch an investigation of “some idiot for treason”.

Mr Trump lashed out at the skit on Twitter, saying the nature of its content “should be tested in courts”.

“A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live. It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.

Not all US presidents react as Mr Trump has done over their portrayal on SNL.

President George HW Bush invited cast member Dana Carvey to the White House after he impersonated him on the show during the 1992 presidential campaign.

In 1976, Gerald Ford saw the funny side of Chevy Chase’s portrayal of him as being clumsy by inviting the comedian to the White House and even appearing on SNL in a cameo appearance.