Trump has a very suspect plan to smoke out the Times' op-ed writer

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

President Trump reportedly remains completely obsessed with finding the author of last week's anonymous New York Times op-ed, which alleged that a silent "resistance" exists within in the administration. Although he appears no closer to cracking the case, he apparently thinks he can smoke the person out with little more than his Twitter account.

In a new Vanity Fair piece describing Trump's growing paranoia, a person close to the president suggested that he's hoping to pressure the writer into coming clean. "He's going to continue to shame this person," the source said. "The author will break under pressure or will eventually say, 'F--k it, it's me.'" Trump has reportedly told all of his aides to specifically refer to the writer as a "coward," seemingly for this purpose.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.