It’s worth taking a closer look at President Trump’s diatribe against The New York Times.
The story by reporter Neil MacFarquhar is not unlike 500 other stories you’ve read, making the same point:
What did the so-called “deal” with Iran–running a page and a half – actually accomplish compared to Trump’s original goals for the war?
“Neither the war nor the agreement ended what U.S. and Israeli officials regard as the main threats emanating from Iran. The country’s nuclear program, while heavily damaged, was not eliminated — its fate punted to future negotiation.”
RELATED: REPUBLICANS BREAK WITH TRUMP TO REBUKE IRAN WAR — BUT IT WON’T CHANGE POLICY
“I think it’s better that it go to American farmers than the Iranian terrorist regime,” said conservative Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen, who has a personal relationship with Trump but has broken with him on this issue.
Hell, Republican senators are saying this out loud.
They are especially steamed that not only does Trump plan to unfreeze $300 billion in Iranian assets, he has just waived oil sanctions on the Iranians for 60 days, enabling them to earn about $10 billion by selling oil on the open market.
By the way, while JD Vance has claimed a breakthrough in nuclear discussions, Iran flatly denies this, a foreign ministry spokesperson saying the theocratic dictatorship has made “no new commitments” involving nuclear inspections.
What this underscores is that for all the hatred expressed for the Times, he actually craves its approval.
It’s the paper he read growing up in Queens and building towers in Manhattan.
The president – who is again threatening to wipe out Iran if the country misbehaves – balked at the Times headline reporting that “What Changed After Almost Four Months of War? Analysts Say Not Much.” Not much?
“Their Military is DONE, their Navy is GONE, their Air Force is GONE, their Launching Pads, Missiles, Drones and Manufacturing of same, is almost GONE, their top two sets of Leaders are GONE, their Inflation is at 250%, their Economy is BROKEN, their Soldiers aren’t being paid, 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!!”
An hour and a half later, Trump posted that the paper is using “FAKE & MADE UP ‘FACTS” about the war — which he called “TREASONOUS.”
Treason, of course, is a capital crime, with a maximum penalty of death.
Trump said he will be adding that complaint to his lawsuit against the “Criminals” running the Times.
RELATED: TRUMP THREATENS TO ADD NY TIMES’ ‘TREASONOUS’ IRAN WAR COVERAGE TO $15B DEFAMATION LAWSUIT
I guess this is where I say The New York Times is not run by criminals. You may vehemently disagree with its coverage, it is certainly a liberal paper, and its editorial page says he lost the war, but they are not crooks.
I could find no public comment by The Times. But last fall, when Trump refiled his $15-billion suit against the paper, a spokesperson said: “This is merely an attempt to stifle independent reporting and generate P.R. attention, but The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics.”
At the same time, the Trump Justice Department has withdrawn, at least for now, subpoenas that would force reporters from the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post to testify before a grand jury in Virginia.
This happened after the news outlets fought them in sealed filings.
A Post spokesperson called this “a clear violation of constitutionally guaranteed press freedoms” and “another sign of the government seeking to compel journalists to become instruments of its investigations.”
On the algae front, Trump said yesterday he would sue ABC for its reporting on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which has been a fiasco and killed a couple of ducks.
He now blames it on vandalism. The president alleges ABC “failed to report that their close ‘friends,’ Democrats Obama and Biden, spent over 100 Million Dollars on the Reflecting Pool, and it never worked.”
Doesn’t sound like much of a lawsuit to me.
For what it’s worth, the Obama administration spent about $35 million on the pool and the work was finished in 2012.
ABC anchor and reporter Jonathan Karl ran a segment on the Reflecting Pool, pulling out a slice of peeling paint to demonstrate the deterioration.
So is he now going to be prosecuted? That seems way over the line.
“We didn’t peel it away, it was floating there,” Karl said on “Good Morning America.”
The job was done by a no-bid contractor for $15 million, about nine times the original estimate.
But Trump says, “I like their money, which will be given to the U.S. Treasury.” ABC paid $16 million to settle a 2024 defamation suit involving use of the word “rape.”
Trump’s frequent shifting of positions, which can change by the day or even the hour, makes him a challenge to cover.
Of course, he transforms his stance without a hint of embarrassment. Of course, the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran was wildly successful.
But it’s hardly radical to report that things are in limbo as Trump threatens bombing again – which I just don’t see happening.
Sometimes the Trumpian rhetoric is just for show. After ripping Jon Karl at a presser for one of his questions, Trump called him over and quietly said, “We’re good.”
Meanwhile, “Regime Change,” the book published yesterday by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, both New York Times reporters, has sparked some criticism from the press.
Days before their scheduled interview, Trump called Haberman a “third-rate reporter.” She described that as a “hip check,” meaning he wanted to lay down a marker.
But when he sat down with the duo, he was “in a convivial mood,” the book says, and started talking to them about trees he wants to order. “I know how to buy good trees, Maples.”
“And then the planned ballroom. And also an anecdote about golfer Gary Player.
“We had questions we needed to ask him,” Haberman says, and he mostly answered them. “But we did not want the interview to turn into an ‘open mic night’ where he would simply pontificate at length.”
The hour-long session went well – until the end, when the president scolded Haberman.
“I’m tired of winning and winning and winning and just getting bad f—– press. It’s about time that you tell the truth.”
“Routinely,” Haberman said on the “Daily Show,” the only person really challenging him aggressively – and not rudely or unprofessionally – is Kaitlan Collins,” the CNN anchor who also covers the White House.
“And she takes an enormous amount of s—, and she keeps a total straight face. But she doesn’t have backup.”
That sounds like a not-so-subtle invitation for other White House correspondents to defend themselves–and controversy always helps sell books.
