Trump Demands NY Times Turn Over Anonymous Op-Ed Writer ‘for National Security Purposes’

White House official admitted to “working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations”

donald trump ny times

President Trump demanded Wednesday that the New York Times turn over a White House official who admitted in an anonymous op-ed to “working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

“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!” Trump tweeted, along with a video of him responding to the op-ed and the word “TREASON?”

The Times acknowledged when it published the op-ed that giving the writer anonymity was a “rare step,” saying it had done so at the request of the author, because his or her “job would be jeopardized by its disclosure.” The newspaper invited readers to submit questions “about the essay or our vetting process.”

Eileen Murphy, a Times spokeswoman, said Wednesday: “We are incredibly proud to have published this piece, which adds significant value to the public’s understanding of what is going on in the Trump administration from someone who is in a position to know.”

The op-ed appeared after The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Bob Woodward’s new book says senior aides “pluck official papers from the president’s desk so he couldn’t see or sign them” — which would be another example of people within the White House trying to frustrate Trump’s agenda and inclinations.

The piece says that many senior officials in Trump’s administration “are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

“To be clear, ours is not the popular ‘resistance’ of the left,” the op-ed reads. “We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous. But 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.”

It continues: “That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.”

And continues: “The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.”

The author also addresses the idea of a “Deep State” of government operatives who precede the Trump Administration.

“This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state. It’s the work of the steady state,” the op-ed says.

Following the publication of the op-ed, the Associated Press reported that Trump decried the editorial as “gutless,” saying of the Times, “They don’t like Donald Trump and I don’t like them.”

You can read the full op-ed here.

The Times’ publication of the anonymous op-ed set off a predictable guessing game about who was behind it. The Drudge Report announced it with the all-red top headline, “SABOTEUR INSIDE WHITE HOUSE.”

Trump tweeted Wednesday in response to Woodward’s book: “Isn’t it a shame that someone can write an article or book, totally make up stories and form a picture of a person that is literally the exact opposite of the fact, and get away with it without retribution or cost. Don’t know why Washington politicians don’t change libel laws?”

Here are Trump’s tweets and some reactions to the op-ed:

Tim Molloy

Executive editor • @timamolloy

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