Trump cries ‘treason’ as official writes about ‘quiet resistance’
WHITE HOUSE MUTINY ? Prez attacks NYT for oped, calls writer gutless, asks whether official exists
US President Donald Trump was hit by an op-ed written by an unidentified senior administrative official who disclosed a “quiet resistance” to parts of his “agenda and his worst inclinations”.
The writer, whose identity has become the subject of intense speculation after The New York Times ran the piece, defends some of Trump’s agenda and says the administration should succeed, but worries “the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental” to the country.
“Many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations,” the official writes. “I would know. I am one of them.”
The article reinforces the theme of senior journalist Bob Woodward’s book Fear: Trump in the White House, that has had the president and his aides in knots since the pre-release publication of excerpts.
Woodward, whose reporting on the Watergate scandal brought down the Richard Nixon presidency, writes about senior officials stealing documents from Trump’s desk to prevent him from signing orders that could endanger national security.
Or explaining patiently the nuances of policies, which revealed Trump had the understanding of a “fifth or sixth grader”.
Trump reacted with predictable rage to the op-ed. He slammed the Times in a tweet, using his pet pejorative, “the Failing New York Times”. He called the writer “gutless” and asked if the “senior administration official” actually exists or if it was another one of the media outlet’s “phony sources”. “TREASON?,” he tweeted. Taking questions at a White House event, he said, “We have somebody in what I call the failing New York Times talking about his part of the resistance within the Trump administration. This is what we have to deal with. And you know, the dishonest media, because (turning to the participants of the event) you people have to deal with it as well as I do, it’s really a disgrace.
“I will say this: Nobody has done what this administration has done in terms of getting things passed, in terms of getting things through.”
The New York Times said it ran the anonymous op-ed, which it acknowledged was a rare step for it, at the request of the writer whose job would be in jeopardy if he or she was identified.
It said the writer is a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to the newspaper.
“We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers,” it said.
WASHINGTON: