White House denials pile up as Trump seeks to unmask New York Times ‘coward’
Vice-President Mike Pence, secretary of state Mike Pompeo, defence secretary Jim Mattis, national intelligence director Dan Coats and UN envoy Nikki Haley all say it wasn’t them
Washington — US President Donald Trump has called on the New York Times to reveal the name of the "coward" who wrote an explosive, anonymous article that has plunged his presidency into its worst crisis yet. The White House has been convulsed by a fevered hunt for the senior official who declared, in an unsigned article for The New York Times published on Wednesday, that "unsung heroes" were quietly working within the administration to frustrate the president’s "worst inclinations". "Nobody knows who the hell he is, or she," Trump told supporters at a rally in Billings, Montana, adding: "Unidentified deep state operatives who defy voters to push their secret agendas are truly a threat to democracy itself." Invoking national security concerns, Trump said the paper should publish the official’s name, before encouraging reporters to investigate the matter. "That would be a good scoop!" he said. On the internet and in Washington, a guessing game has raged over who the author might be, p...
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