Overview
- Aboard Air Force One on Friday after a trip to China, President Trump blasted New York Times correspondent David Sanger for asking why the U.S. would resume bombing after a 38‑day campaign and called his reporting “treasonous.”
- Trump insisted the U.S. achieved a “total military victory” in Iran and said American forces could knock out bridges and the electrical grid within two days.
- Hours later The Times issued a statement saying reporting is not treason, citing the First Amendment and stressing its role in checking government claims against verifiable facts.
- Fact‑checks pushed back on Trump’s claim that Times subscriptions are “way down,” pointing to the company’s report of more than 13 million subscribers and a 12 percent revenue increase this quarter.
- Journalists warned that accusing a reporter of treason, a capital crime, risks normalizing authoritarian rhetoric, and on Saturday CNN’s Jake Tapper said the charge is dangerous and noted intelligence shows Iran still retains military capabilities.