The New York Times published an anonymous op-ed attributed to a senior Trump administration official who wrote that “many of the senior officials in his own administration” are working against President Donald Trump from within “to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.” Trump later blasted the op-ed on Twitter, calling the essay “gutless” and again referring to the publication as “the failing New York Times.”
“I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations,” the anonymous Trump administration official wrote. “…We believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.”
The author of the op-ed claims to support the president’s policies, but does not support the president’s temperament, writing of a president that is unfocused, with poor decision-making abilities.
“Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back,” the anonymous individual wrote.
via Alex Brandon/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK
According to ABC News, the anonymous Trump official goes on to lay out how Trump appointees have worked to shape policy, specifically on foreign policy, that are at odds with the president’s preferences in order to protect certain norms.
“It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t,” the official wrote. “The result is a two-track presidency.”
According to NBC News, the anonymous Trump administration official also confirmed reports that there were, at one point, internal Cabinet discussions regarding removing Trump from office by invoking the 25th amendment, but wrote that “no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis.”
So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over,” the official said.
The official also explained why things have been so troubled in the White House.
“The root of the problem is the president's amorality,” the official wrote. “Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.”
Shortly after the essay was published, Trump blasted the piece, telling reporters Wednesday afternoon at a White House event that the anonymous individual is “probably [someone] who is failing and probably here for all the wrong reasons,” ABC News reports.
“An anonymous editorial. Do you believe it? Gutless editorial,” Trump said.
“I'm not president, which hopefully will be in about six and a half years from now, The New York Times and CNN and all of these phony media outlets will be out of business, folks,” Trump added. “They'll be out of business because they'll be nothing to write and nothing of interest. So nobody has done what this administration has done. I agree, it's different from an agenda which is much different than ours and it's certainly not your agenda, that I can tell you.”
Not long after, Trump sent out a one-word post on Twitter: “TREASON?”
TREASON?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
“Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source?” Trump later questioned the report. “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”
Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
The scathing Times essay comes just a day after an advance excerpt of a highly critical book of veteran Washington reporter Bob Woodward was published and similarly painted a picture of a president who is rash. Trump, however, has tried to discredit the book as a “work of fiction.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called on whoever wrote the op-ed to resign from the administration, saying they were a “coward.”
“The individual behind this piece has chosen to deceive, rather than support, the duly elected President of the United States. He is not putting country first, but putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people. This coward should do the right thing and resign,” Sanders said in the statement.
Sanders also called on The Times to apologize as well.
“We are disappointed, but not surprised, that the paper chose to publish this pathetic, reckless, and selfish op-ed,” Sanders said in a written statement. “This is a new low for the so-called ‘paper of record,’ and it should issue an apology, just as it did after the election for its disastrous coverage of the Trump campaign. This is just another example of the liberal media’s concerted effort to discredit the President.”
The Times, however, explained its decision to publish the anonymous op-ed in a note to readers that it, saying it is being done at the request of the author to not jeopardize their job, while adding that publishing the essay anonymously is “the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers.”