LONDON: US President Donald Trump accused the New York Times of treason on Sunday over its coverage of the war in Iran, threatening to add what he called the paper’s false reporting to his multi-billion-dollar lawsuit against the outlet.
“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 wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday night.
“I will be adding all of their false and ridiculous reporting to my multi Billion Dollar lawsuit against them. They are Criminals!”
The outburst was directed in part at a Times piece headlined “What Changed After Almost 4 Months of War? Analysts Say Not Much,” which Trump said ignored a string of US achievements, including the degradation of Iran’s military and leadership, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the positive performance of US stock markets.
“That’s what’s CHANGED, you corrupt and unethical cowards, and MORE!!!” he wrote in a separate post.
The article, written by Times correspondent Neil MacFarquhar, argued that the memorandum of understanding signed last week between the Trump administration and Tehran already appears to be in jeopardy, with Iran again threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli operations in Lebanon.
MacFarquhar also argued that Tehran’s resilience during Operation Epic Fury, launched on Feb. 28, had strengthened rather than weakened its hand as a regional power.
MacFarquhar is not alone in that assessment. The deal has drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum.
Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen called the prospect of handing Iran $300 billion “a disaster,” comparing it to offering Germany a Marshall Plan “while the Nazis were still in power.”
Conservative radio host Erick Erickson described it as “American surrender,” while Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy called it the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
The Financial Times labeled the agreement a “humiliation,” questioning whether the concessions Iran received were worth four months of war, the depletion of US weapons stockpiles and billions of dollars in costs.
Trump has defended the deal, saying on Monday he would “do what I have to do” if Iran failed to honor its commitments.
Sunday’s broadside was the latest episode in Trump’s sustained campaign against mainstream US media, which he regularly accuses of publishing “fake news.”
He filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the paper last September, but a federal judge dismissed the complaint within days, saying the 85-page filing was “tedious and burdensome” and failed to make its case.
An amended 40-page version followed in October, filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida and naming the newspaper, Penguin Random House and reporters Suzanne Craig, Russ Buettner and Peter Baker.
The Times said the lawsuit “has no merit” and was designed to suppress independent journalism.
Trump has filed similar suits against ABC News, CBS’s “60 Minutes” and The Wall Street Journal.
