Who wrote the op-ed about 'resistance' inside the Trump administration?


After The New York Times published an anonymous op-ed written by a current "senior official in the Trump administration" on Wednesday, readers rushed to decipher and deduce who the mysterious author might be.
Who would be so bold as to write that they are part of an internal "resistance" working to thwart President Trump's agenda? Could it be White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, tired of her relentless public defense of the president? Perhaps her husband, George Conway, a vocal critic of Trump's, wrote the op-ed and "fired it off from Kellyanne's email account," one communications official suggested.
A Twitter poll from Weekly Standard writer John McCormack had several officials in fierce competition — with 173 votes, 25 percent said first daughter and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump wrote it, while another 32 percent voted for U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
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Who would go so far as to call Trump "impetuous, adversarial, petty, and ineffective?" Washington Post reporter Ishaan Tharoor said the "growing consensus" was that National Security Adviser John Bolton penned the piece, which could explain why the Times characterized the author as a "he" and why the op-ed chose to highlight Trump's handling of his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Until Times investigators "unearth the identity of an author [their colleagues] have sworn to protect with anonymity," as reporter Jodi Kantor said, or until the unnamed official resigns and steps forward, read the op-ed for yourself at The New York Times to make your best guess.
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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
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