“I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations” write the anonymous author in New York Times.
WEB DESK
A senior official in US President Donald Trump’s administration has claimed in an op-ed that he is part of “the resistance inside the Trump administration.” The op-ed, published anonymously by The New York Times, has generated political controversy in the United States particularly White House.
Senior officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration are actively undermining parts of his presidency, according to a senior White House official who wrote an op-ed for The New York Times.
“President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader,” said the author of the op-ed. “I am part of the resistance inside the Trump administration.”
“The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”
The newspaper’s opinion desk noted that it had taken an extraordinary step by publishing an anonymous op-ed. However, it said that its editors believed it was “the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers.”
The op-ed’s author lamented “a two-track presidency” in which senior officials tried “to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.”
One example offered was Trump’s “preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.” The author added that Trump displayed “little genuine appreciation for the ties that bind us to allied, like-minded nations.”
Trump on Wednesday quickly dismissed the op-ed as “really a disgrace” and “gutless” and assailing the author and The New York Times for publishing the anonymous opinion piece.
“We have somebody in what I call the failing New York Times that’s talking about he’s part of the resistance inside the Trump administration,” Trump said. “This is what we have to deal with. And you know the dishonest media … But it’s really a disgrace,” reports CNN
He then pivoted to his accomplishments, claiming that “nobody has done what this administration has done in terms of getting things passed and getting things through.”
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
Trump later tweeted a pointed and unsubstantiated attack on the Times, questioning if the author of the op-ed exists. If the author does exist, the organization should publicly identify the individual, Trump said.
“Does the so-called ‘Senior Administration Official’ really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source?” Trump tweeted. “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”