The New York Times on Wednesday took a rare step of publishing an anonymous op-ed essay which was written by "a senior official in the Trump administration". The NY Times says that it was the only way they could "deliver an important perspective" to their readers.
There was an immediate guessing game in Washington about who wrote the article and whether it came from someone within the White House or in another government agency.
Headlined as I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration, the editorial in a way is a broad repetition of Watergate journalist Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in White House which quoted many Trump administration officials on the way they dealt with the president and his tantrums.
Asked about the column during a White House event, Trump called it a “gutless editorial,” bashed the New York Times as “failing,” and ticked off economic achievements that he said were proof of his leadership.
Staring into the cameras, he said: “Nobody is going to come close to beating me in 2020 because of what we’ve done.”
Trump later fired off a one-word message on Twitter: “TREASON?”
In another tweet, he said: “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”
The writer of the editorial starts of by saying that President Trump is facing a test to his position unlike any faced by a modern American leader. It is not the midtern elections or the special council investigation into the 2016 election meddling that looms large over the presidency, but the fact that many of his own senior officials are working diligently from within his administration "to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations".
The writer wants the administration to succeed but believes that the officials' "first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic." Hence, many in the administration have "vowed to do what we can" to thwart Trump's misguided impulses.
The article has fueled Trump's critics claims that he is unfit for the position and is likely to resurrect talk of impeachment. The official ascribes the Trump administration's basic problem to his amorality. "Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making," he writes.
The article also reiterated ideas long espoused by critics who claim that though Trump was elected as a Republican, he "shows little affinity for ideals long espoused by conservatives."
While bashing Trump for is personal follies, the writer makes it a point to talk about what the administration has achieved despite Trump's "impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective" leadership.
He claims the negative press coverage has failed to notice the bright spots like "effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more."
The writer claims that there are "unsung heroes in and around the White House" who protect the world from Trump.
his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back. He notes that some of them have been cast as villains but "they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing".
Like Bob Woodward did, the writer brings attention to Trump's myopic approach to foreign policy. Trump's approach to Vladimir Putin has been one of regard and preference. But the administration has continuously called out on Russia for its meddling.
The writer goes on to point out that the it the nation that has allowed the president to do what he does, and that is the concern. "We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility," he laments.
In the end he calls on citizens to rise above politics and to "shed the labels in favor of a single one: Americans."