WASHINGTON – A senior administration official penned an anonymous essay in The New York Times on Wednesday describing President Donald Trump as erratic and amoral and said his aides were actively working to thwart him on decisions that are detrimental to the nation.

"It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t," the unnamed official wrote.

The piece, entitled "I am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration," was written by a senior official in the Trump administration, according to the Times. The newspaper said it was not disclosing the identity of the author because doing so would jeopardize that person's job.

More than an hour after the essay was posted, Trump spoke about it in the White House East Room where he attacked the New York Times and the unnamed official.

"Can you believe it? Anonymous -- meaning gutless," Trump told reporters during an event with sheriffs from across the nation.

He added people don't like him because his agenda doesn't always match what others want.

“Nobody has ever done more in less than a two year period than what we’ve done,” Trump said.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders slammed the essay as "pathetic, reckless, and selfish" and said the official who wrote it should resign.

"This is a new low for the so-called 'paper of record,' and it should issue an apology," she said.

More: Eight things to know about the 25th Amendment

The piece chronicled the work of the anonymous writer, along with other "senior officials" in the administration, who dub themselves part of a "quiet resistance" to the president to "frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations."

"But we 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 piece said. "That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office."

The timing of the piece came a day after excerpts were published from a forthcoming book by veteran journalist Bob Woodward that depicted chaos inside the White House and efforts by aides to prevent the president from taking actions they viewed as irresponsible. The book, "Fear: Trump in the White House," included details of Trump's top aides removing documents from the president's desk or hiding paperwork.

The official said there had been whispers within the Cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would allow the vice president to take over if a commander in chief becomes disabled.

"But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis," the official wrote. "So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until – one way or another – it’s over."

The senior official described Trump as "impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective."

"The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House," the author wrote. "Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful." </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior administration official penned an anonymous essay in The New York Times on Wednesday describing President Donald Trump as erratic and amoral and said his aides were actively working to thwart him on decisions that are detrimental to the nation.

"It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t," the unnamed official wrote.

The piece, entitled "I am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration," was written by a senior official in the Trump administration, according to the Times. The newspaper said it was not disclosing the identity of the author because doing so would jeopardize that person's job.

The White House did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on the piece, but White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and other aides were huddling in her office to examine the story.

Reporters gathered at the White House in a frenzy in hopes of getting some reaction to the publication of the essay.

The piece chronicles the work of the anonymous writer, along with other "senior officials" in the administration, who dub themselves part of a "quiet resistance" to the president to "frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations."

"But we 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 piece states. "That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office."

The timing of the piece came a day after excerpts were published from a forthcoming book by veteran journalist Bob Woodward that depicted chaos inside the White House and efforts by aides to prevent the president from taking actions they viewed as irresponsible. The book, "Fear: Trump in the White House," included details of Trump's top aides removing documents from the president's desk or hiding paperwork.

The official said there had been whispers within the Cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would allow the vice president to take over if a commander in chief becomes disabled.

"But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis," the official wrote. "So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until – one way or another – it’s over."

The senior official described Trump as "impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective."

"The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House," the author wrote. "Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful." </s> BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images There's a secret "resistance" effort inside President Donald Trump's administration, an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times claimed Wednesday.

High-level officials under President Donald Trump are actively working to combat his controversial policies and erratic behavior, according to a scathing New York Times op-ed published Wednesday and written by an author identified only as “a senior official in the Trump administration.”

The op-ed, titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” paints a chaotic picture of life in the White House, including constantly undermining the president’s reckless demands in order to maintain the country’s safety and prosperity.

“The dilemma — which [Trump] 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 author wrote. “I would know. I am one of them.”

At one point, the author writes, officials considered invoking the 25th Amendment ― which allows a president to be removed from office in the event of death, removal, resignation or incapacitation.

It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t. Anonymous senior official in the Trump administration

The op-ed speaks favorably of Trump’s “effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military” policy, but the author says officials know Trump’s impulses are rooted in anti-trade and anti-democratic beliefs. Many of Trump’s dangerous plans have been shot down or contained by officials who belong to the so-called resistance in his administration, according to the author.

“From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials 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,” reads the op-ed.

“It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room,” the author writes. “We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.”

The official points to Trump’s reluctance to punish Russia for poisoning a former spy in Britain. He grew angry when officials demanded Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spies be expelled from the U.S. and further sanctions be imposed on Russia, but Trump’s national security team made the response happen. </s> The White House slammed a newspaper essay on Wednesday attributed to an anonymous administration official that criticized President Trump and suggested that aides have discussed ways to try to remove him from office.

Trump and others blasted The New York Times after the newspaper ran what it said was a column written by someone within the president's administration who called into question his judgment and vowed to block some of his wishes.

In a highly unusual situation, the author was identified only as "a senior official in the Trump administration."

The Times said revealing the author's identity would put his or her job in jeopardy. The Times declined NPR's request for an interview with an editor about its decision.

In the column, the author presents a damning assessment of the Trump presidency and suggests there is a network of officials working behind the scenes to protect the nation from Trump.

"We 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 author wrote.

The op-ed described Trump's leadership style as "impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective."

Trump responded to the op-ed in a previously scheduled White House meeting with sheriffs from across the country. He said the author is "failing" and "probably here for all the wrong reasons."

Trump responded to the op-ed in the same way the White House has been responding to the damning new book by Bob Woodward: by outlining his administration's accomplishments and touting the strength of the economy.

Trump is doing so well, in fact, that he is already confident that he'll be re-elected.

"Nobody's going to come even close to beating me in 2020, because of what we've done," Trump said.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, in a separate statement, called the anonymous author a "coward" who should resign.

The author of the column argued that the successes of the current administration on issues like deregulation and tax overhaul have happened despite the president's management style.

Calling it a "two-track" presidency, the author said Trump works on his own agenda, while others in the administration take actions they believe are in the best interest of the country.

One example was the decision to expel Russian diplomats from the United States after the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. The author said Trump was reluctant to take the action, but "his national security team knew better."

The column appeared as the White House already was fighting leaked details from the forthcoming Woodward book, Fear, that describes a dysfunctional White House in which the president is not respected by his staff and in which aides sometimes take clandestine action to keep the president from acting in ways that hurt the country.

In one example, former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn reportedly took a letter off Trump's desk to keep him from signing it because Cohn feared the consequences for the U.S. position in Asia.

Trump called Woodward's book "total fiction," and Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly have denied that they bashed the president. </s> WASHINGTON, Sept 6 — Top members of Donald Trump’s administration are so alarmed by the president’s “erratic” and “amoral” behavior that they are actively working to undermine him, an anonymous senior official wrote in The New York Times yesterday.

Trump immediately slammed as “gutless” the unsigned op-ed — published a day after excerpts from bombshell book claiming that White House staff were constantly battling to rein in the president’s worst impulses.

In the article entitled I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration, the official stressed they were committed to the Republican agenda, and did not side with opposition Democrats.

But, the official wrote, “we 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.”

“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 official wrote.

“I would know. I am one of them.”

The official described a “two-track” presidency in which Trump says one thing and his staff consciously does another, for example with regard to what he called Trump’s “preference for autocrats and dictators.”

Staff actively worked to insulate themselves from Trump’s “impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective” leadership style, the writer said.

“The root of the problem is the president’s amorality,” the official said.

“That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.”

Trump lashed out at the author of the anonymous piece — and at the “dishonest” Times.

“They don’t like Donald Trump and I don’t like them,” Trump said.

“So if the failing New York Times has an anonymous editorial, can you believe it, anonymous — meaning gutless — a gutless editorial — we’re doing a a great job.”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders branded the piece “pathetic, reckless, and selfish” and condemned the Times for publishing it.

“Nearly 62 million people voted for President Donald J. Trump in 2016,” said Sanders.

“None of them voted for a gutless, anonymous source to the failing New York Times.”

The unsigned piece appeared to reinforce the claims made in the new book by investigative journalist Bob Woodward, which describes a virtual cabal of high-minded White House and cabinet officials scheming to prevent Trump from taking decisions damaging to the US economy and national security.

The White House has condemned Woodward’s book as “fabricated stories,” and Trump called it “a work of fiction.”

But the Times op-ed suggests that dissent and resistance inside Trump’s White House are even deeper than Woodward described.

The official said that early on in the administration, some officials quietly discussed invoking the 25th amendment of the US Constitution, which allows the removal of a president judged unable to perform his duties.

“But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.”

The New York Times acknowledged the extraordinary step of publishing such an anonymous op-ed, saying it did so at the request of the author whose identity is known to the paper.

“We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers,” it wrote. — AFP </s> There appears to be no shortage of leakers in the chaotic and factionalized Trump administration, but whoever wrote the recently published anonymous op-ed in The New York Times definitely took the cake.

The op-ed, titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” was purportedly written by a senior official from within the White House and discussed how some members of the administration – including the author – were working “diligently” to save the country from President Trump’s bad decisions and disastrous policies.

“Many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of [Trump’s] agenda and his worst inclinations,” it read. “I would know. I am one of them.”

The author also clarified they are not part of the so-called “Resistance” against the commander-in-chief.

“To be clear, ours is not the popular ‘resistance’ of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous,” the op-ed continued. “But we 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.”

Towards the end of the piece that detailed the president’s “erratic behavior,” his “impulsiveness” and “repetitive rants,” the anonymous writer also talked about the possibility removing Trump from the office.

“Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over,” they wrote. “The bigger concern is not what Mr. Trump has done to the presidency but rather what we as a nation have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.”

Now, given that the New York Times explained that it knows the identity of the author and refrained from revealing it to protect the said person’s job, there was the usage of one particular word with in the op-ed that led many to believe the culprit behind the article is none other than Trump’s second-in-command, Vice President Mike Pence.

“We may no longer have Senator [John] McCain. But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue,” the senior White House official wrote. “Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them.”

As many people were quick to point out, Pence has a history of using the term “lodestar.”

Of course, there were receipts:

However, many believe someone used the word deliberately to frame Pence.

If that’s the case, here are a few more senior Trump officials who could have written the scathing op-ed.

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway is infamous for her ability to spin tales out of thin air when it comes to defending Trump. However, according to “The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game” author Ronald Kessler, Conway is perhaps the biggest leaker with in the White House.

White House counsel and assistant to the president, Don McGahn, who will be leaving his position in fall is also a possible contender. He has a history of having disagreements with Trump and has reportedly cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller and could be a potential witness in the ongoing investigation into whether the commander-in-chief obstructed justice.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been on the receiving end of Trump’s angry rants and temper tantrums ever since he recused himself from the Mueller probe. Not only has the president publicly insulted Sessions, he has also said he wouldn’t have picked the Alabama Republican for the job had he know he would recuse himself.

So, it won’t be far-fetched to assume Sessions could have written the New York Times op-ed.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s relationship with Trump has been off-and-on in terms of how well they treat each other. In the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign, for instance, Trump tweeted out his disappointment in Ryan on several occasions, especially since the speaker had tried to distance himself from the GOP nominee after leaked audio of him confessing to sexual abuse was made public.

Earlier this year, Ryan told the New York Times Magazine Trump frequently called him a “boy scout.” Although the president was using the term in a disparaging way, Ryan said he thought he was being praised.

Despite being the director of national intelligence, Dan Coats doesn’t appear to have much of a say in Trump’s decisions.

For instance, Coats was in the middle of a live interview when he was told about Trump’s decision to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the White House – and his reaction said it all.

“Say that again,” Coats asked hesitantly after NBC News' Andrea Mitchell broke the news. “Did I hear you, did I hear you?” he added when the host began to repeat her statement, drawing laughter from the crowd.

When Mitchell confirmed Coats had indeed heard her correctly, he responded with, “OK. That's gonna be special.”

Rumors of tension between President Donald Trump and Chief of Staff John Kelly have been making rounds for several months. Despite several reports, the White House has denied reports the president is looking for a replacement for Kelly. However, it is important to mention the two have reportedly clashed on prominent issues several times.

To put it honestly, Kelly also doesn’t seem to be a fan of Trump’s penchant for insulting world leaders.

Like most people in the list, Trump is reportedly not on good terms with his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, either. As for the president’s eldest daughter and favorite child Ivanka, it might sound a little improbable but she does have a history of disagreeing with her father on core issues – even if she does so in a rather subtle manner.

For instance, she slammed the white supremacists who staged the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, after her father failed to do so. The senior White House adviser also said she was sad about the Trump administration policy that separated thousands of families on the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this year.

Other honorable mentions include, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis, presidential adviser Fiona Hill and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. </s> Pushing back against explosive reports his own administration is conspiring against him, U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out against the anonymous senior official who wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times, claiming to be part of a "resistance" working "from within" to thwart the commander-in-chief's most dangerous impulses.

Washington was consumed by a wild guessing game as to the identity of the author, and swift denials of involvement in the op-ed came Thursday from top administration officials, including the office of Vice-President Mike Pence, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Trump himself was furious, tweeting Thursday morning:

The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy - & they don’t know what to do. The Economy is booming like never before, Jobs are at Historic Highs, soon TWO Supreme Court Justices & maybe Declassification to find Additional Corruption. Wow! —@realDonaldTrump

On Wednesday night, Trump tweeted a demand that if "the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!" White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called on the "coward" who wrote the piece to "do the right thing and resign."

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request to elaborate on Trump's call for the writer to be turned over to the government or the unsupported national security ground of his demand.

To some, the ultimatum appeared to play into the very concerns about the president's impulses raised by the essay's author. Trump has demanded that aides identify the leaker, according to two people familiar with the matter, though it was not yet clear how they might go about doing so. The two were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A House of Cards-style plot twist in an already over-the-top administration, Trump allies and political insiders scrambled to unmask the writer.

The authorship question lingered Thursday, even as many senior officials were quick to distances themselves from the piece.

What are senior administration officials saying about the op-ed? Vice-President Mike Pence: The vice-president called the op-ed "disgraceful" and said anyone who would write an anonymous editorial "smearing" the president should resign. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: Pompeo, on a working visit to India, denied writing the anonymous opinion piece, saying, "It's not mine." He accused the media of trying to undermine the Trump administration and said he found that "incredibly disturbing." Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats: Coats issued a statement saying the speculation that he or his deputy are "patently false. We did not." Defence Secretary James Mattis: According to a Reuters report, Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said Mattis didn't write the piece. Attorney General Jeff Sessions: Sessions himself hasn't made a public statement about the op-ed, but a CNN report says a Justice Department official told their team the attorney general isn't the author. White House counsel Don McGahn: Speaking outside the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, McGahn denied he was the author. They aren't the only top officials denying any link to the piece. Many top officials, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Housing Secretary Ben Carson, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said they aren't the anonymous author. Many lower profile administration officials also issued denials.

The author — claiming to be part of the "resistance" to Trump, "working diligently from within" his administration — says "many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump's more misguided impulses until he is out of office."

"It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room," the author continued. "We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what's right even when Donald Trump won't."

The text of the op-ed was pulled apart for clues: The writer is identified as an "administration official" — does that mean a person who works outside the White House? The references to Russia and the late Sen. John McCain — do they suggest someone working in national security? Does the writing style sound like someone who worked at a think tank?

In a tweet, the Times used the pronoun "he" to refer to the writer; does that rule out all women?

In Opinion<br><br>In an anonymous Op-Ed, a senior Trump administration official says he and others are working ​to frustrate the president’s “misguided impulses.” <a href="https://t.co/qW1IoM3AYY">https://t.co/qW1IoM3AYY</a> <a href="https://t.co/rCHnQfcRjG">pic.twitter.com/rCHnQfcRjG</a> —@nytimes

The newspaper later said that tweet had been "drafted by someone who is not aware of the author's identity, including the gender, so the use of 'he' was an error."

Hotly debated on Twitter was the author's use of the word "lodestar," which pops up frequently in speeches by Vice-President Mike Pence. Could the anonymous figure be someone in Pence's orbit? Others argued that the word "lodestar" could have been included to throw people off.

U.S. President Donald Trump criticizes The New York Times for publishing an anonymous editorial purportedly by a member of his administration. 1:40

Trump, appearing at an unrelated event Wednesday at the White House, lashed out at the Times for publishing the op-ed.

"They don't like Donald Trump and I don't like them," he said of the newspaper. The op-ed pages of the newspaper are managed separately from its news department.

Demand for writer to resign

In a blistering statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders accused the author of choosing to "deceive" the president by remaining in the administration.

"He is not putting country first, but putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people," she said. "The coward should do the right thing and resign."

Sanders also called on the Times to "issue an apology" for publishing the piece, calling it "pathetic, reckless and selfish."

Use of the word 'lodestar' in the article — a term often used by Mike Pence — has fuelled speculation that the author could be close to the U.S. vice-president. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

The anonymous author wrote in the Times that where Trump has had successes, they have come "despite — not because of — the president's leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective."

The assertions in the column were largely in line with complaints about Trump's behaviour that have repeatedly been raised by various administration officials, often speaking on condition of anonymity. And they were published a day after the release of details from an explosive new book by longtime journalist Bob Woodward that laid bare concerns among the highest echelon of Trump aides about the president's judgment.

The writer says Trump aides are aware of the president's faults and "we are trying to do what's right even when Donald Trump won't."

The writer also alleges "there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment" because of the "instability" witnessed in the president. That amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows for the transfer of power to the vice-president if the president is deemed "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."

"This isn't the work of the so-called deep state. It's the work of the steady state," the writer adds. </s> NEW YORK, Aug 16 (APP):Hundreds of US newspapers devoted space on Thursday to a coordinated defence of press freedom and a rebuke of President Donald Trump for saying some media organizations are enemies of the American people.

 The Boston Globe and The New York Times took part in the push along with more than 350 other newspapers of all sizes including some in states that Trump won during the 2016 presidential election.

 The Boston Globe, which led and coordinated the media campaign, wrote that “today in the United States we have a president who has created a mantra that members of the media who do not blatantly support the policies of the current US administration are the ‘enemy of the people’.”

 “This is one of the many lies that have been thrown out by this president, much like an old-time charlatan threw out ‘magic’ dust or water on a hopeful crowd,” its editorial, entitled “Journalists are not the Enemy,” said.

 In July, President Trump blasted The New York Times and The Washington Post as “anti-Trump haters” who “do nothing but write bad stories even on very positive achievements” they will never change.”

 The terms “fake news” and “enemy of the people” have often been used by Trump in connection any critical news reports. The president even admitted in a tweet in May 2018 that he considered any negative news regarding his person or administration “fake news.”

 In another tweet on Thursday, he denounced the “fake news” media as the “opposition party.”

 The Globe also argued that Trump’s treatment of the press was encouraging the world’s authoritarian leaders to suppress free journalism.

 “Replacing a free media with a state-run media has always been a first order of business for any corrupt regime taking over a country,” the Globe wrote.

 The New York Times, one of the newspapers most targeted by Trump, pointed out the dangers of blanket criticism of the press both to democracy and to journalists themselves.

 “[I]nsisting that truths you don’t like are ‘fake news’ is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the ‘enemy of the people’ is dangerous, period,” the Times wrote.

 The outgoing UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper this month that Trump’s classing of journalists as enemies was “getting very close to incitement to violence.”

 Here is a sampling of what the newspapers said:

 The New York Times chose the headline A Free Press Needs You, calling Mr Trump’s attacks “dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy”. It published excerpts from dozens more publications beneath

 The New York Post – a pro-Trump tabloid – answered the Globe’s call by saying “Who are we to disagree?” adding: “It may be frustrating to argue that just because we print inconvenient truths doesn’t mean that we’re fake news, but being a journalist isn’t a popularity contest. All we can do is to keep reporting.” But it also said: “Will this make a difference? Not one whit”

 The Philadelphia Inquirer said its city was the birthplace of US democracy, writing: “If the press is not free from reprisal, punishment or suspicion for unpopular views or information, neither is the country. Neither are its people”

 Opinion writers at McClatchy put out an editorial for the 30 daily newspapers it runs, including the Miami Herald, saying they hardly ever spoke with one voice but were doing so now. It said, “It’s how Joseph Stalin’s critics were marked for execution.”

 Another paper to join the campaign was the Topeka Capital-Journal which said of Trump’s attack on the media: “It’s sinister. It’s destructive. And it must end now.” The paper was one of the few to endorse Trump in 2016.

 Trump’s supporters said the fact that he won without such media endorsements may cast doubt on whether the Globe’s campaign would actually dent his support.

 There have been some dissenting voices to the Globe’s campaign.

 Tom Tradup at the conservative website Townhall.com panned the Globe’s “pathetic bid to pretend it is still relevant”, writing: “I would not presume to tell anyone else what to think or what to do. But as for me – and I suspect many others – I won’t be putting any coins in any newspaper box August 16th.”

 The Wall Street Journal declined to take part. An earlier piece by James Freeman argued Trump was entitled to free speech and the Globe’s drive ran counter to the very independence it was seeking. </s> LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of U.S. newspapers on Thursday launched a coordinated defense of press freedom and a rebuke of President Donald Trump for denouncing some media organizations as enemies of the American people.

“A central pillar of President Trump’s politics is a sustained assault on the free press,” said the editorial by the Boston Globe, which coordinated publication among more than 350 newspapers.

“The greatness of America is dependent on the role of a free press to speak the truth to the powerful,” the Globe said. “To label the press ‘the enemy of the people’ is as un-American as it is dangerous to the civic compact we have shared for more than two centuries.”

Each of the newspapers, including some in states that Trump won during the 2016 presidential election, ran an editorial, which is usually an unsigned article that reflects the opinion of an editorial board and is separate from the news and other sections in a paper.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of the press.

Trump has frequently criticized journalists and described news reports that contradict his opinion or policy positions as fake news.

He lashed out again on Thursday, tweeting “THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS THE OPPOSITION PARTY. It is very bad for our Great Country....BUT WE ARE WINNING!”

He also wrote there was nothing he would want more for the United States than true freedom of the press, but that much of what the media published was fake news, “pushing a political agenda or just plain trying to hurt people. HONESTY WINS!”

The Republican president’s comments reflect a view held by many conservatives that most newspapers and other news outlets distort, make up or omit facts because of a bias against them.

A representative for the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the editorials.

In its editorial, the New York Times said it was correct to criticize the news media for underplaying or overplaying stories or for getting something wrong.

“News reporters and editors are human, and make mistakes. Correcting them is core to our job,” the Times said. “But insisting that truths you don’t like are ‘fake news’ is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the ‘enemy of the people’ is dangerous, period.”

Thursday’s coordinated editorials were criticized by some in the media, including a CBS News commentary that described them as a “self-defeating act of journalistic groupthink.”

“Seriously — Who’s going to be persuaded by this effort, or be impressed that a few hundred newspapers can hum the same tune? Who’s even going to notice?” CBS News’ commentary asked.

Politico’s media critic, Jack Shafer, wrote this week that the coordinated editorial response was sure to backfire.

“It will provide Trump with circumstantial evidence of the existence of a national press cabal that has been convened solely to oppose him,” Shafer said. “Trump will reap enough fresh material to whale on the media for at least a month.”

In January, U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, said Trump had embraced the despotic language of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
The New York Times publishes an editorial written by an anonymous senior administration official in the Trump administration which criticizes U.S. President Donald Trump and claims unnamed administration aides and officials, in efforts to promote national stability, conspired against the president.