Donald Trump Escalates War on The New York Times, Calls Outlet a ‘National Security Threat’

Donald Trump's feud with The New York Times continues. On Tuesday, he called the outlet a "TRUE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!" in an explosive Truth Social rant. He added that the tabloid is a security threat that must be "stopped" at any cost to protect the nation. This is not the first time he has expressed his dissatisfaction with how the outlet functions. "The Failing New York Times, and their lies and purposeful misrepresentations, is a serious threat to the National Security of our Nation," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. The POTUS continued, "Their Radical Left, Unhinged Behavior, writing FAKE Articles and Opinions in a never-ending way, must be dealt with and stopped. THEY ARE A TRUE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! Thank you for you [sic] attention to this matter. PRESIDENT DJT."

I hope it's clear to everyone by now that Trump's play over and over again is to yell "National Security!" and pretend as though that gives him the right to act like a dictator pic.twitter.com/uNATJ6Zazm

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 23, 2025 

Last month, after a report by The New York Times, the Republican president reacted in a similar way. The outlet published an article claiming that Donald Trump was showing signs of cognitive and physical decline. Following the report, Trump labeled The New York Times the “ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.” He also called the article’s author “ugly.”

Although it is unclear which of the outlet’s recent reports triggered his outburst on Tuesday, given the longstanding feud between Trump and the newspaper, the reaction does not come as a surprise.

In addition to his Truth Social rant, the president accused the newspaper of downplaying his plans to lower prescription drug costs. According to The Daily Beast, he said, “The New York Times had a story about it, a small story, way in the back of the paper. It's the single biggest thing to happen with respect to drugs probably in 50 years.”

A statement from The New York Times on the Pentagon’s press pass policy: pic.twitter.com/2q43SrvrR2

— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) October 10, 2025 

Earlier this month, the feud between Trump and The New York Times took a new turn when the newspaper sued the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his press policy. The lawsuit argues that the Defense Secretary’s media policy is unlawful and unconstitutional.

A copy of the lawsuit obtained by HuffPost states, “The policy — which vests Department officials with unbridled discretion to immediately suspend and ultimately revoke a reporter's [Pentagon badge] for engaging in lawful newsgathering, both on and off Pentagon grounds, or for reporting any information Department officials have not approved — is neither reasonable nor viewpoint-neutral.”

“It is exactly the type of speech- and press-restrictive scheme that the Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit have recognized violates the First Amendment,” the complaint added.