Trump Officials Deny They Wrote New York Times Op-Ed

 

Top Trump¹ administration officials say they are not the writer of a New York Times opinion piece sharply critical of President Donald Trump.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke² on the issue during his visit to India. He called the opinion piece “sad.” He criticized the media for what he said were its efforts to “undermine this administration.”

Vice³ President Mike Pence also denied writing the opinion piece. His deputy chief of staff said Pence’s office is “above such amateur acts.”

The director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, released a statement denying that he or his top deputy wrote the piece.

Defense⁴ Secretary Jim Mattis, U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and Treasury⁵ Secretary Steve Mnuchin also issued denials.

The Times said the writer is a senior administration official whose job would be at risk if the person's identity were to be made public.

The opinion piece says that Trump’s staff often takes action to block the president from action.

The writer of the piece says he or she wants Americans to know that “there are adults in the room.”

The writer describes the president as “impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.”

Trump has spoken and written about the piece several times since its publication Wednesday. In one tweet, he demanded that the newspaper name the source for legal action.

Trump wrote, “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 anonymous⁶ person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”

The demand came shortly after Trump published a one-word message on Twitter: “TREASON?”

Trump was asked about the piece on Wednesday following an event at the White House. He called it "gutless" and launched into an extended criticism of the newspaper.

“They don't like Donald Trump and I don't like them because they're very dishonest people,” the president told reporters.

Trump described the writer of the opinion piece as someone “probably who is failing and probably here for all the wrong reasons.”

The piece says administration officials have discussed the possible use of the 25th Amendment⁷. That measure defines methods to legally remove a president from office.

However, the writer says no one wants to cause a constitutional crisis. The piece reports, “So we will do what we can to steer⁸ the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it's over.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement in which she described the piece as “a new low for the so-called paper of record.’”

Sanders said The Times should apologize. She called the story's publication “another example of the liberal media's concerted effort to discredit⁹ the President.”

The press secretary accused the writer of “not putting country first, but putting himself and his ego¹⁰ ahead of the will of the American people.” She said the writer should resign from the administration.

The opinion piece in The New York Times is similar to parts of a new book about Trump by reporter Bob Woodward. Short parts of Fear: Trump in the White House were published Tuesday in The Washington Post. The book is set for release next Tuesday.

Trump called Woodward’s new work “fiction.”

I’m Lucija Millonig.

And I'm Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

adversarial - adj. involving two people or two sides who oppose each other

amateur - adj. a person who is not skillful at a job or other activity

anonymous - adj. not named or identified

concerted - adj. done in a planned and deliberate way usually by several or many people

ego - n. the opinion that you have about yourself

fiction - n. written stories about people and events that are not real

gutless - adj. lacking courage

impetuous - adj. acting¹¹ or done quickly and without thought

petty - adj. not very important or serious

phony - adj. not true, real, or genuine

steer - v. to control the direction in which something moves

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

6 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

8 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

9 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

10 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。