President Donald Trump is once again at war with the press—this time threatening legal action against The New York Times over a report he didn’t like. His team demanded the paper apologize and retract a story he claims hurt his reputation.
The article in question revealed a leaked Pentagon analysis contradicting Trump’s claims about recent strikes on Iran. According to the report, the bombing only delayed Iran’s nuclear program—it didn’t deal the “knockout blow” Trump had bragged about.
CNN first broke the story about the leaked intel, and said it had also been threatened with legal action.
Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, accused The Times of printing “false,” “defamatory,” and “unpatriotic” information.
But the paper didn’t flinch: “No retraction is needed,” Times attorney David McCraw fired back. “No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.”
The administration’s outrage hit a boiling point during a press conference Thursday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a Trump loyalist, went off—aiming his fury at Fox News, of all places.
He singled out longtime Fox national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin after she asked about the intel suggesting Iran moved its uranium before the attack.
“You’ve been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most intentionally what the president says,” Hegseth snapped at Griffin.
Trump doubled down on Truth Social, demanding that reporters from both The Times and CNN be fired. He even said CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand should be thrown out “like a dog.”
But the media isn’t backing down. And Trump’s threats, far from silencing critics, seem to be fueling an even louder backlash.
