President Donald Trump on Wednesday got a defiant reply from The New York Times after his lawyer wrote a letter threatening to sue the newspaper in part for “unpatriotic” reporting on the U.S. bombing of Iran.
The Times reported on an early Pentagon analysis saying the strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites would merely delay its nuclear program, undercutting Trump’s claim that the attack was a knockout blow. CNN was the first to report on the leaked contradictory intel and said it had also been threatened with legal action.
The letter from attorney Alejandro Brito, the Times reported, ordered the outlet to “retract and apologize” for its “false,” defamatory” and “unpatriotic” article due to the alleged damage to Trump’s reputation.
Noting that the administration had confirmed the existence of the report, the Gray Lady hit back hard.
“No retraction is needed,” the paper’s lawyer, David McCraw, wrote back. “No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.”
The administration’s fury over the leak hit critical mass at a press conference Thursday when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth even lashed out at a former colleague from Fox News, traditionally an ally of Trump.
Hegseth accused the media of rooting against Trump and zeroed in on Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin when she asked about the report’s assessment that Iran had removed highly enriched uranium before the bombings.
“You’ve been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most intentionally what the president says,” Hegseth told Griffin.
On Truth Social Thursday, Trump called for reporters from the Times and CNN to be fired. In his escalating war with the media, he already said CNN’s Natasha Bertrand should be thrown out “like a dog.”
