In Anonymous New York Times Op-Ed, White House Official Says Staff Resisting Parts Of Trump Agenda
(CBS) – In an extraordinary op-ed piece posted on the New York Times website, a senior White House official says members of the White House staff are working to thwart parts of President Trump's agenda and to save him from his "worst inclinations" that may harm the nation.
The article headlined, "I Am Part Of The Resistance Inside The Trump Administration," says the group is working secretly because they "believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic."
"The root of the problem is the president's amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision-making."
The op-ed makes clear that this clandestine effort does not extend to all parts of Trump's agenda. It cites successes, like "effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more."
The author says officials overseeing executive branch agencies "will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief's comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims."
When Trump learned of the article, he was not happy, Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs reports.
About an hour and a half after the NYT published an anonymous senior admin official trashing Trump, he's speaking at the White House to a gathering of sheriff's department officials from across the nation. https://t.co/BkXnYIfrrP
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 5, 2018
NEW: "This coward should do the right thing and resign," Sarah Huckabee Sanders says in a statement about the anonymous senior admin official's opinion piece in the NYT.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 5, 2018
CBS News has the video:
President Trump calls anonymous Op-Ed a "gutless editorial" while touting poll numbers. https://t.co/xTwHHeWCrs pic.twitter.com/ZzX5DcNmNB
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 5, 2018
Shortly after the article posted, the hashtag #25thAmendmentNow—a reference to the amendment to the Constitution that allows for the removal of a president who is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office"-was trending.
Anonymous and your colleagues of like mind must come forward to Congress. We cannot afford to allow @POTUS to use his impulsive instincts and send us to another war! Your duty is to the country, not an unfit and unstable @POTUS. #25thAmendmentNow https://t.co/IxtMvLWx9o
— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) September 5, 2018
A former top Obama political adviser was not impressed.
Great. A bunch of anonymous cowards who love tax cuts and pollution are the one thing standing between the country and the Mad King https://t.co/K7D0ry7EBi
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) September 5, 2018
And the guessing game began: Who is this anonymous official? The New York Times may have provided a pronoun clue:
And can Times reporters pursue the identity and publish the findings?
So basically: Times reporters now must try to unearth the identity of an author that our colleagues in Opinion have sworn to protect with anonymity? https://t.co/wj2nKmDHz9
— Jodi Kantor (@jodikantor) September 5, 2018