President Donald Trump ripped The New York Times essay written by an anonymous senior official in his administration as "a gutless editorial" during fiery remarks in the White House.
Trump rattled off his accomplishments and defended how he leads the country at the end of a meeting with law enforcement officials in the face of the Times piece that was published Wednesday.
"You tell me about some anonymous source within the administration, probably who is failing, and probably here for all the wrong reasons, and The New York Times is failing," Trump said in the East Room. "If I weren't here, I believe The New York Times probably wouldn't even exist.
"When I won, they were forced to apologize to their subscribers. They wrote a letter of apology. It was the first time anybody has ever done it because they covered the election incorrectly. So, if the failing New York Times has an anonymous editorial, can you believe it? Anonymous. Meaning gutless. A gutless editorial."
The Times piece is titled "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration" and was purportedly written by a senior Trump administration official. It explains the person's concerns about how Trump is running the country and his leadership style, and notes other administration officials share the same concerns.
Minutes after Trump spoke, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement that read, in part:
"We are disappointed, but not surprised, that the paper chose to publish this pathetic, reckless, and selfish op-ed. This is a new low for the so-called paper of record, and it should issue an apology, just as it did after the election for its disastrous coverage of the Trump campaign. This is just another example of the liberal media's concerted effort to discredit the president.
"The individual behind this piece has chosen to deceive, rather than support, the duly elected president of the United States. He is not putting country first, but putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people. This coward should do the right thing and resign."
The Times piece was published just days before a forthcoming book by Washington, D.C., journalist Bob Woodward will come out, a book that cites several anonymous sources to paint a poor picture of Trump.
Trump later tweeted a one-word question: "TREASON?" followed an hour later by:
"Does the so-called 'Senior Administration Official' really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to the government at once!"
Erick Erickson, the conservative commentator, wrote: "A dear friend of mine who works for President Trump tells me he loves the guy, but that they all spend an inordinate amount of time stopping his worst impulses. He says he feels deeply betrayed by this op-ed because it will hurt all of their efforts to help the president do right."
Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House communications director, wrote on Twitter: "I said in July 2017 in my short tenure [at the White House] that there were forces inside the building that were 'saving the country' from POTUS. Imagine the ego of that and the cowardice anonymity."
Trump's team already is dealing with the fallout of the release of excerpts from Bob Woodward's new book "Fear: Trump in the White House," set to be published Tuesday, and has tried to undermine its credibility by releasing statements from Chief of Staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis in which they deny making certain quotes attributed to them. The book reportedly portrays the president as erratic and out of his depth.
"The book means nothing; it's a work of fiction," Trump told reporters. He repeated the phrase "work of fiction" multiple times throughout the day.
The author of the piece is known to New York Times' opinion editors. That even puts the paper's editorial side in an unusual position.
"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?" wrote The New York Times investigative reporter Jodi Kantor.
Reuters contributed to this report.