The New York Times and CNN are rejecting President Donald Trump’s demands to retract stories about the Iran strikes, standing by reports that question the success of the mission. Trump is now threatening to sue both outlets, calling their coverage false and damaging.
According to both outlets, Trump’s personal attorney, Alejandro Brito, sent formal letters demanding retractions and public apologies in response to their June 24 stories. Trump’s lawyer called the Iran attack a major success and claimed The Times article damaged the president’s credibility.
In the letters, Brito called the reporting “false,” “defamatory,” and “unpatriotic,” and alleged that they caused significant damage to the president’s reputation.
Media responses
David McGraw, The New York Times’ lead newsroom attorney, responded in a letter rejecting Trump’s claims, saying, “No retraction is needed. No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.”
CNN said it responded to Trump by sending a letter rejecting the president’s claims, but did not release it publicly.
Trump escalates attacks on journalists
Trump has called for journalists at both major media outlets to be fired and accused the writers of the articles of aiming to discredit U.S. military personnel.
“Natasha Bertrand should be fired from CNN! I watched her for three days doing fake news. She should be immediately reprimanded, and then thrown out like a dog,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
CNN stood by its reporting.
“We stand 100% behind Natasha Bertrand’s journalism and specifically her and her colleagues’ reporting,” the company said about the intelligence assessment.
Hegseth defends military, criticizes press
At a news conference on Thursday, June 26, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined the criticism, accusing the media of “cheering against Trump” and “undermining the military’s success” in its airstrikes on Iran.
“There are so many aspects of what our brave men and women did that, because of the hatred of this press corps, are undermined because people are trying to leak and spin that it wasn’t successful,” Hegseth said. “It’s irresponsible.”
Preliminary nature of intelligence
The New York Times emphasized in its report that the leaked intelligence report was preliminary and said further assessments were expected as more data became available.
“The U.S. intelligence services issued a preliminary assessment concluding that the attacks delayed Iran’s nuclear program only by a few months. This is what we reported,” The Times’ lawyer, McGraw, wrote in his reply to Brito.
“The American public has a right to know whether the attack on Iran — funded by taxpayer dollars and of enormous consequence to every citizen — was a success,” McGraw wrote. “It would be irresponsible for a news organization to suppress that information and deny the public the right to hear it.”
Brito’s legal history
Trump’s attorney has filed multiple lawsuits on Trump’s behalf, including a defamation case against ABC News that was reportedly settled for $15 million.
