President Trump Accuses the New York 'Times' of a 'Virtual Act of Treason' for an Article His Own Administration Reportedly Cleared

President Donald Trump accused the New York Times of treason in response to a story the newspaper claimed his administration approved. President Trump responded to a New York Times story that detailed his administration stepping up attacks on Russia’s power grid in response to Russian-directed US election interference. The President called the story “a virtual act of treason” before accusing the paper of writing without regard to the consequences of the reporting, calling them “true cowards” and repeating his line that the Times is “the enemy of the people.” Soon after President Trump’s accusations, the Times responded on Twitter and claimed that the paper had described the content of the article to administration officials before the story’s publication. "Accusing the press of treason is dangerous," The Times' communications account tweeted. "We described the article to the government before publication. As our story notes, President Trump’s own national security officials said there were no concerns."