Trump denounces ‘TREASONOUS’ New York Times over Iran reporting
President Donald Trump, stymied by a war with Iran that seems destined to end with the United States in a weaker geopolitical position than before he launched it, turned his sights on an easier target over the weekend: The New York Times, whose journalists he baselessly accused of “TREASONOUS” reporting.
The immediate impetus for Trump’s outburst was Times reporter Neil MacFarquhar’s Sunday news analysis headlined “What Changed After Almost Four Months of War? Analysts Say Not Much.” MacFarquhar wrote that in light of the memo of understanding signed last week by the U.S. and Iran, “skeptics are expressing bafflement over what exactly has transformed” in the region given that “neither the war nor the agreement ended what U.S. and Israeli officials regard as the main threats emanating from Iran.” His analysis detailed how Iran’s regime, ballistic missiles, proxies, and nuclear stockpile have endured, while its government “is set to receive potentially substantial financial rewards” and now knows it has the ability to disrupt the global energy trade by closing the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump denounced the story in a Sunday afternoon Truth Social post. He pointed to damage to Iran’s military and economy caused by the U.S. military and added: “the Hormuz Strait is OPEN, THE OIL IS GUSHING, and the U.S. Stock Market and Jobs are at record HIGHS. That’s what’s CHANGED, you corrupt and unethical cowards, and MORE!!!”
The president then moved on to accusing Times reporters of treason. “The way the Corrupt and Failing New York Times is covering stories on a very battered and beat up Iran, through FAKE & MADE UP ‘FACTS’ is, in my opinion, ‘TREASONOUS,’” he wrote in a subsequent post. “I will be adding all of their false and ridiculous reporting to my multi Billion Dollar lawsuit against them. They are Criminals!”
The president, who frequently launches legally baseless defamation lawsuits targeting news outlets whose coverage displeases him, sued the Times and three of its reporters last year. In recent months, he has reportedly been privately “raging” over the contents of a forthcoming book by Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.
Trump frequently denounces reporters and threatens to bring down the power of the state against them because he has no regard for the First Amendment. His rage has been particularly acute since his Iran war began earlier this year: The president has railed against the press for its unwillingness to adopt his talking points in the manner of his loyal Fox News prime-time hosts, calling mainstream news outlets and reporters “almost treasonous” for purportedly lying about the effectiveness of the war effort because they are “rooting for Iran to win.” At the same time, Trump’s handpicked chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has leveraged his power to target Trump-critical speech and threatened reprisals against outlets that produce critical coverage of the war.
But Trump’s denunciations of reporters go far beyond their coverage of war and peace. This weekend, he vaguely threatened ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl, suggesting that the reporter might be under federal investigation after he “was seen sticking his hand into the” Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, whose recently repainted bottom is deteriorating, “and trying to rip the rubber off of the surface.” And earlier this month, the president lashed out at CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins during an event in the Oval Office, saying: “I never see a smile off her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes, like she has hatred, because we had borders, because we have a strong military, because we cut our taxes, because we do things that everybody wanted, and then we win our election in a massive landslide.”
In related news, the rescheduled annual dinner for the White House Correspondents Association, which “celebrates the First Amendment” and will feature a speech by the president, is just a month away.