Times publisher pressed Trump on ‘anti-press rhetoric’
WASHINGTON — The publisher of The New York Times says he took President Donald Trump to task for “deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric” that is “not just divisive but increasingly dangerous” when the two met privately at the White House this month.
Trump disclosed the meeting on Twitter on Sunday, saying he and A.G. Sulzberger “Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, ‘Enemy of the People.’ Sad!”
“Enemy of the People” is the phrase Trump uses to broadly describe most journalists. He said the July 20 meeting was “very good and interesting.”
Sulzberger, who succeeded his father in the role on Jan. 1, said his main purpose for accepting the meeting was to “raise concerns about the president’s deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric.”