Donald Trump lashed out late Sunday night over negative press coverage of his war with Iran, singling out The New York Times for criticism after it asked what the conflict had actually achieved.
“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,’” the president threatened on his Truth Social platform.
“I will be adding all of their false and ridiculous reporting to my multi Billion Dollar lawsuit against them. They are Criminals!”
Shortly before that post, he had vented his fury on the same subject in another missive that read: “The headline in the Corrupt and Failing New York Times: ‘What Changed After Almost 4 Months of War? Analysts Say Not Much.’ REALLY?
“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!!!”
He also posted a response to his first post from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a long-time Iran hawk, who said Trump’s comments were “spot on” and claimed the offending Times article amounted to “an insult to our men and women in uniform” and only provided further evidence of the newspaper’s alleged bias against the president.
The piece in question by journalist Neil MacFarquhar notes that the memorandum of understanding signed last week by the Trump administration and the regime in Tehran agreeing to an end to hostilities already appears to be in jeopardy, given that Iran is again threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s actions in Lebanon.
MacFarquhar also argues that Tehran’s resilient response to coming under siege from Operation Epic Fury on February 28 has only strengthened its hand as a regional power player.
Its retaliatory airstrikes against U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf and its stranglehold over the strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, have proven effective means of exerting pressure on the aggressor, with spiking fuel prices stoking political pressure on Trump at home, where the cost of living is a major concern for voters.
MacFarquhar is by no means the only analyst to question the purpose of the conflict and a CBS News poll published Sunday found that almost three-quarters of Americans believe the war has not been worth its cost.
The president has responded to Iran’s latest threat in kind by saying the U.S. will “take over the rest of the country” if shipping tankers are again stopped from crossing the strait.
Trump has long feuded with the Times and other mainstream media outlets felt to have liberal leanings, commonly accusing them of putting out “fake news” while offering little or no justification for his claims.
He launched a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the newspaper last September only for a judge to toss out his 85-page complaint days later, ruling that it was composed of “tedious and burdensome” language that failed to make its case.
Undeterred, Trump filed an amended 40-page complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in October, in which he named the newspaper, publisher Penguin Random House and the reporters Suzanne Craig, Russ Buettner and Peter Baker as defendants.
The Times has said the lawsuit “has no merit” and labelled it “merely an attempt to stifle independent reporting and generate PR attention.”
The president has also filed lawsuits against ABC News, CBS’s 60 Minutes and The Wall Street Journal over the last year after taking issue with their reporting on his administration.
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