US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has denied having authored an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times about President Donald Trump, calling it "sad."
"If it's accurate … they should not … have chosen to take a disgruntled, deceptive bad actor's word for anything and put it in their newspaper. It's sad more than anything else," he told reporters soon after concluding the first 2+2 ministerial dialogue in New Delhi.
The op-ed attributed to an anonymous senior Trump administration official claimed that a group of senior officials were working on behalf of "the Resistance" movement to thwart Trump's agenda.
Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
"I come from a place where if you're not in a position to execute the commander's intent, you have a singular option, which is to leave. And this person instead, according to the New York Times, chose not only to stay but to undermine what President Trump and this administration is trying to do," Pompeo added.
"And I have to tell you, I find the media's efforts in this regard to undermine this administration incredibly disturbing," Pompeo stated.
Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump had lambasted the op-ed and argued that he was the victim of a "deep state" plot.
"He's part of 'the Resistance' within the Trump administration," Trump told reporters at the White House. "This is what we have to deal with, and the dishonest media … it's really a disgrace."
The Failing New York Times! pic.twitter.com/SHsXvYKpBf
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
