Trump regularly attacks the “fake news media” in general with his vitriolic tweets and speeches, but rarely targets one publication or outlet in particular.
In an earlier tweet, Trump claimed journalists “don’t even call asking for verification” about stories they are planning to publish about his administration ― a post which is also being interpreted as an attack on Times reporters.
The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today. Stories are written that have absolutely no basis in fact. The writers don’t even call asking for verification. They are totally out of control. Sadly, I kept many of them in business. In six years, they all go BUST!
Times reporter Maggie Haberman dismissed the claim during an interview with CNN’s “New Day,” however, as she noted how she’d sent several emails to the White House about the planned story “that went unanswered until yesterday.”
“We went through a detailed list of what we were planning on reporting,” she explained. “They chose not to engage and then afterwards the president acts surprised.”
“Now whether his aides are not telling him what we are looking at or whether this is a game and he knows what it is and he’s pretending that he doesn’t, I can’t read his mind,” she speculated. “We certainly followed normal reporting practices and went over it at length with both the White House and the Department of Justice.”
Haberman confirmed that Trump’s claim about writers not calling for verification was “not true.” “That’s a lie,” she said. “And I don’t know if he knows it’s a lie or whether he is telling himself ‘this is true,’ whether his staff doesn’t tell him we are reaching out, but I find it hard to believe that his staff didn’t brief him once again that this kind of a report was coming.”
JUST NOW: "That’s a lie. I don't know if he knows it's a lie or whether he is telling himself this is true, whether his staff doesn't tell him we are reaching out."@maggieNYT on @realDonaldTrump claim the NYT didn't reach out over new story.@NewDaypic.twitter.com/01QY6JsVaY
Trump’s anti-media rhetoric was blamed for the attack of a BBC cameraman at a rally the president held in El Paso, Texas, earlier this month. He had whipped the crowd up “into a frenzy against the media” ahead of the incident, per one reporter.
45PHOTOS
Printing the New York Times in 1942
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Printing the New York Times in 1942
The Newsroom
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The bullpen
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Telegraphers record messages in the wire room.
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Incoming copy from AP
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Copy boys mimeograph dispatches.
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Dispatches.
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As the copy boy's rush to meet deadlines mimeographed dispatches cover the floor.
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Editors can be seen at the foreign desk discarding stories by 'spiking' them.
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These editors are responsible for all stories outside the U.S.
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NYT correspondents for Argentina, Switzerland, and Mexico.
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Drama critic Brooks Atkinson.
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Old and new dictionaries.
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Head of the 'morgue' Tommy Bracken.
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A New York Times radio operator.
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In the radio room, the news is sent out to ships in morse code.
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A radio operator records a message from Switzerland.
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A cartographer looks over charts before preparing a map of the war in Europe.
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The photo department sends out photo all over the world.
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A negative is inspected in the dark room.
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A fashion image is retouched.
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As mats are completed they are checked off by page.
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One the page is marked up the completed time is marked alongside it.
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A story is typed out on a linotype in the composing room.
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Style change notices.
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Linotype slugs are picked up from the table.
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A mat is looked over for errors.
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A man operates a proof press.
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A page is prepared for print in the composing room.
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This man has set the daily index by hand for 15 years.
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Proofs posted on the wall.
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As deadlines creep closer page one is completed.
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Type is set.
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Workers move a 1608 lbs paper reel.
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Paper is fed through the press.
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Curved plates are prepared for the press.
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Curved plates are assigned their corresponding page number.
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Plates are loaded onto the press.
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Numbered plates await the press.
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The press is almost ready to run.
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And the press is a go!
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The first edition is checked for quality.
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Finished papers are cut.
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Completed papers are bundled for delivery.
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A truck is loaded with the latest edition of the New York Times.