New York Times publisher refutes Trump's version of their meeting

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger pushed back Sunday against President Trump's assertion that during a meeting this month, the pair "spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media."

Trump tweeted about the meeting Sunday morning, and declared that "Fake News has morphed into the phrase, 'Enemy of the People.' Sad!" Not long after, Sulzberger released a statement saying Trump misinterpreted their July 20 meeting, which Trump had invited him to and requested be off the record. Sulzberger said he told Trump the phrase "fake news" is "untrue and harmful," and he's concerned that his language is "not just divisive but increasingly dangerous."

Sulzberger also revealed that Trump was proud of making the phrase "fake news" popular, and said he warned Trump that his "inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence." Trump has been railing against the press since it began fact-checking him early in his 2016 presidential campaign, and last week he told an audience of veterans "what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening." Following Sulzberger's rebuttal, Trump tweeted that the Times is "failing" and the paper, along with The Washington Post, only writes "bad stories" about him.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up