President Donald Trump is threatening to sue The New York Times and CNN over "unpatriotic" reporting that the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites set Tehran's nuclear program back by only a few months, the Times reported.
Trump's personal lawyer, Alejandro Brito, in a letter to the Times said the article had damaged Trump's reputation. He also demanded the news outlet "retract and apologize for" the piece, which the letter described as "false," "defamatory," and "unpatriotic."
David McCraw, the Times's deputy general counsel, replied to Brito, saying: "No retraction is needed. No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so."
CNN told the Times it had responded to a similar legal threat.
Trump on Thursday slammed the Times and CNN, writing on Truth Social: "FAKE NEWS REPORTERS FROM CNN & THE NEW YORK TIMES SHOULD BE FIRED, IMMEDIATELY!!! BAD PEOPLE WITH EVIL INTENTIONS!!!"
He also called for CNN's Natasha Bertrand to be fired.
CNN responded:
"We stand 100% behind Natasha Bertrand's journalism and specifically her and her colleagues' reporting of the early intelligence assessment of the U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. CNN's reporting made clear that this was an initial finding that could change with additional intelligence.
"We have extensively covered President Trump's own deep skepticism about it. However, we do not believe it is reasonable to criticize CNN reporters for accurately reporting the existence of the assessment and accurately characterizing its findings, which are in the public interest."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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