Latest news with #DavidMcCraw
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New York Times Slaps Down Trump Threat to Sue Over Iran Leak
The New York Times rejected President Donald Trump's demand for a retraction and apology for reporting he deemed not only false and defamatory but 'unpatriotic.' The litigious president, angered by how both the Times and CNN reported that the Pentagon's initial assessment of damage to Iran's nuclear sites didn't live up to his grand claims, had fired off a letter full of grievances to each outlet. But the Times, in response to the letter from Trump's personal attorney, said it wouldn't budge. 'No retraction is needed,' the paper's lawyer, David McCraw, replied. 'No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.' McCraw noted in his letter that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Trump himself acknowledged that the Pentagon's assessment was preliminary and could change down the road—something that the Times piece explicitly stated. 'That is what we reported,' he wrote. 'While the Trump administration protests that the assessments were only preliminary—which, by the way, was the second word of our Article—and that later assessments may come to different conclusions, no one in the administration disputes that the first assessments said exactly what the Article said they did: the destruction caused by the raid was not as significant as the President's remarks suggested.' Thursday's legal threats—which Trump did not send to The Washington Post or The Wall Street Journal, both of which also reported on the Pentagon's early assessment—was the latest manifestation of the president's outrage about coverage of the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites last weekend. Earlier Thursday, Trump wrote in all-caps on Truth Social that 'fake news reporters' from each publication are 'bad people with evil intentions' and should be fired. Trump, who has told members of the press to behave more like cheerleaders for his administration than reporters holding it to account, on Wednesday singled out CNN's Pentagon and national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand, demanding the same. 'I watched her for three days doing Fake News,' he griped. 'She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out 'like a dog.'' Like the Times, CNN has firmly supported its reporting. '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,' the network said in a statement. '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.' Hegseth, like Trump, begged to differ. During an early morning press conference Thursday, the Defense Secretary lashed out at the press for trying to 'manipulate the public's mind.' Hegseth also took great offense when a reporter confronted him about how he referred to 'our boys in bombers' when there were also female aviators on the mission. 'See, this is the kind of thing the press does, right?' he said, adding that the Defense Department no longer has an 'obsession with race and gender.'
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CNN, New York Times Reject Trump's Demands to Retract ‘False' and ‘Unpatriotic' Stories About Iran Bombing Raids: ‘No Apology Will Be Forthcoming'
President Trump threatened to sue CNN and the New York Times over their reports about his government's early assessment that U.S. bombing raids on Iran had set the regime's nuclear program back by a few months — contrary to Trump's claim that Iran's capabilities were 'totally obliterated.' Trump's personal lawyer on June 25 sent letters to the news outlets demanding they issue retractions and apologies. Both CNN and the Times said they responded to the letters by rejecting the claims. According to the Times, Trump's attorney claimed the stories were defamatory, 'false' and 'unpatriotic.' Trump has railed against CNN, the Times and other news organizations that have reported on intelligence, alleging the outlets 'want to try and demean me.' More from Variety Trump Angrily Calls for CNN to Fire Reporter Over Story on Iran Nuclear Strikes: She Should Be 'Thrown Out Like a Dog' Bernie Sanders Spars With Joe Rogan Over Trump's '60 Minutes' Lawsuit: 'The Impact Is Clearly Intimidation,' Senator Says CBS Reiterates Claim That Trump's '60 Minutes' Lawsuit Is 'Meritless,' Refutes President's Assertion Edited Interview Was 'Commercial Speech' David McCraw, SVP and deputy general counsel for the New York Times Co., wrote in a reply to Trump's lawyer dated June 26, '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.' In the letter, McCraw wrote, 'I must admit I was surprised by your letter's unwavering certainty that the U.S. air strike 'unequivocally eliminated Iran's nuclear capabilities.' That was at odds not just with the preliminary assessments of the U.S. intelligence services that we quoted, but — of more direct relevance to this letter — at odds with what your client said following the publication of the Article.' McCraw then quoted Trump's comments at the NATO summit saying, 'The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says, 'We don't know, it could have been very severe' — that's what the intelligence says.' The Times' story 'that the President may have overstated the case when he said the Iranian sites had been 'obliterated,' that the impact of the bombing raid was uncertain, that the attack did not eliminate the threat posed by Iran,' McCraw wrote, 'is not false and does not defame the President.' The Times posted a copy of McCraw's letter at this link. A CNN rep confirmed the network received a similar letter from Trump's lawyer and responded to it, 'rejecting the claims in the letter.' The spokesperson declined to comment further. On Tuesday, CNN was first to report that the U.S. military strikes on three Iran nuclear facilities over the weekend 'did not destroy the core components of the country's nuclear program and likely only set it back by months,' citing 'an early US intelligence assessment' by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency. The New York Times, along with other news outlets including the Associated Press and ABC News, shortly thereafter matched CNN's reporting. Separately Wednesday, Trump on social media attacked Natasha Bertrand, one of CNN reporters on the Iran story, whom he said should be fired by the network and 'thrown out 'like a dog.'' In a statement about Trump's attack on its employee, CNN said, '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.' Also Wednesday, Trump had lashed out at CNN and the Times, writing on his Truth Social platform that the reporters for the outlets' stories about the DIA report 'are just BAD AND SICK PEOPLE. You would think they would be proud of the great success we had, instead of trying to always make our Country look bad.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
Fox News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
New York Times attorney tells Trump no apology coming for coverage of Iran strikes
President Donald Trump will not receive an apology from The New York Times for its coverage of U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to an attorney for the Gray Lady. Trump has repeatedly called out The New York Times, along with CNN, for coverage of U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. On Tuesday, the Times published an article on a leaked intelligence assessment that the strike had only set Iran back by a few months, which Trump administration officials have said is simply a false talking point designed to undermine the president. Trump has said the attacks were a complete success and "obliterated" Iran's capabilities. Trump has also called the media coverage "very unfair" to the mission's pilots and his legal team demanded a retraction and apology from the Times. A personal attorney for the president called the Times' reporting "false," "defamatory" and "unpatriotic," while threatening legal action. He also threatened to sue CNN over its reporting. Times senior vice president David McCraw, who serves as the paper's lead newsroom attorney, shot down the notion that any apology or retraction is on the horizon. "No retraction is needed. No apology will be forthcoming," McCraw wrote in a defiant response to Trump's attorney, Alejandro Brito. McCraw detailed why the paper stands by its report. "Let's be clear about what happened in the aftermath of the raid. The U.S. intelligence services issued a preliminary assessment concluding that the attacks delayed Iran's nuclear program only by a few months. That is what we reported," McCraw wrote. "While the Trump administration protests that the assessments were only preliminary—which, by the way, was the second word of our Article—and that later assessments may come to different conclusions," he continued. "No one in the administration disputes that the first assessments said exactly what the Article said they did: the destruction caused by the raid was not as significant as the President's remarks suggested." McCraw said that Americans deserve to know whether the attack on Iran was a success. "We rely on our intelligence services to provide the kind of impartial assessment that we all need in a democracy to judge our country's foreign policy and the quality of our leaders' decisions. It would be irresponsible for a news organization to suppress that information and deny the public the right to hear it," McCraw wrote. "We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so," he added. Trump has recently said CNN and the Times are "disgusting, disgusting, really horrible groups of people" while objecting to coverage of the strikes. CNN has also stood by its reporting. "CNN stands by our thorough reporting on an early intelligence assessment of the recent strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, which has since been confirmed by other news organizations. The White House has acknowledged the existence of the assessment, and their statement is included in our story," a CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
Daily Mail
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Trump escalates war against NYT and CNN with threat that could cripple the outlets over 'unpatriotic' Iran coverage
President Donald Trump is now threatening to sue The New York Times and CNN over the outlets' reporting on a preliminary intelligence report that assessed the U.S.'s strike on Iran did not completely destroy the country's nuclear facilities. The Times reported Thursday that Trump's personal lawyer had reached out to the newspaper and said the article had damaged the president's reputation. The letter demanded The Times 'retract and apologize for' the story, calling it 'false,' 'defamatory' and 'unpatriotic.' The newspaper's lawyer responded by noting that Trump administration officials had confirmed the existence of the report after The Times published its findings. 'No retraction is needed,' The Times' lawyer David McCraw said in a letter. 'No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.' A spokesperson for CNN told The Times that the cable news network had responded to Trump's lawyer in a similar fashion. Trump had continued his criticism of the coverage throughout Wednesday and Thursday, using all caps to criticize the reports, accusing the outlets of intentionally publishing 'fake' stories. On Thursday, Trump teased a 'rumor' that the New York Times and CNN would fire the reporters in question. President Donald Trump continued to complain about the outlets' coverage in Truth Social posts throughout Wednesday and Thursday - days after the U.S.'s strike on Iranian nuclear sites 'Rumor is that the Failing New York Times and Fake News CNN will be firing the reporters who made up the FAKE stories on the Iran Nuclear sites because they got it so wrong,' Trump said. 'Let's see what happens?' CNN exclusively reported leaked details from preliminary intelligence assessments of the strikes by the Defense Intelligence Agency, citing 'seven people' briefed on the report. Trump and his officials, particularly Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth criticized the reports, targeting one of the lead reporters of the story Natasha Bertrand of being dishonest. 'Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News. She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out 'like a dog,'' Trump wrote on social media. 'She should not be allowed to work at Fake News CNN. It's people like her who destroyed the reputation of a once great Network,' Trump continued. 'Her slant was so obviously negative, besides, she doesn't have what it takes to be an on camera correspondent, not even close. FIRE NATASHA!' Trump's post about CNN firing Bertrand appeared to be wishful thinking, as CNN issued a statement standing by Bertrand and her reporting. '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,' the news outlet said in a statement. CNN denounced the criticism targeted at Bertrand as irrational. 'We do not believe it is reasonable to criticize CNN reporters for accurately reporting on the existence of the assessment and accurately characterizing its findings, which are in the public interest,' they wrote. The Trump administration continues to criticize the media for questioning the success of the mission after U.S. pilots aboard seven B-2 bombers dropped 14 Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP) bombs on the nuclear facilities in Fordow and Natanz. But the president continued posting criticism of both CNN and the New York Times, describing them on Thursday morning as 'bad people with evil intentions.' 'These reporters are just BAD AND SICK PEOPLE,' Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday. 'You would think they would be proud of the great success we had, instead of trying to always make our Country look bad.' Trump and his officials singled out Bertrand for her reporting on the infamous Steele Dossier and a 2020 Politico report reporting that 'former senior intelligence officials' believed that the Hunter Biden laptop was 'Russian disinformation.' 'She lied on the Laptop from Hell Story, and now she lied on the Nuclear Sites Story, attempting to destroy our Patriot Pilots by making them look bad when, in fact, they did a GREAT job and hit 'pay dirt' — TOTAL OBLITERATION!' Trump wrote on social media. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth held a press conference on Thursday, complaining about the media reports based on 'biased leaks to biased publications.' 'How about we take a beat, recognize first the success of our warriors, hold them up, tell their stories, celebrate that, wave an American flag, be proud of what we accomplish?' he asked. Trump celebrated the press conference as a success, praising Hegseth and his team for emphasizing the success of the bombing mission.
