After The New York Times published an op-ed from an anonymous senior White House official saying that people within the West Wing actively work to curb Trump's destructive whims, the president called the piece a “gutless editorial” and said the newspaper “wouldn't even exist” without him. “He’s part of the resistance in the Trump administration, this is what we have to deal with. The dishonest media… it’s really a disgrace,” he told a crowd of law-enforcement officials at the White House. “When you tell me about some anonymous source within the administration, probably who is failing and probably here for all the wrong reasons—and The New York Times is failing—if I weren't here, I believe The New York Times probably wouldn't even exist.” He continued, saying that “phony media outlets will be out of business” when he’s out of office because they will have “nothing to write.” The president also tweeted that the Times must “turn over” the writer for “National Security purposes,” if the writer existed.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that the “individual behind this piece has chosen to deceive, rather than support, the duly elected President of the United States” and that he was “putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people.” “This coward should do the right thing and resign,” she said. The op-ed, published Wednesday afternoon, claimed that members within Trump’s cabinet were talking about removing him from office in “early whispers” and many of the administration’s successes were “in spite” of the president.
