President Donald Trump has raged against The New York Times, accusing the publication of “seditious, perhaps even treasonous” behavior after a recent op-ed questioned his health.
Opinion writer Frank Bruni scrutinized the 79-year-old president’s health in an article published Monday: “His approval ratings have declined in recent months, and so, by the looks of things, has his vigor.”
While Trump has made headlines in recent weeks over his falling approval rating from Americans, for the first time since October, that number climbed to 41 percent in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
“Americans are once again on a kind of presidential fitness watch, reading the tea leaves of bruises, blotches, gaffes,” Bruni said as he compared concerns over former President Joe Biden’s health during the end of his term, when he was 82 years old, to scrutiny about Trump’s fitness.
In an apparent rebuke of Bruni’s op-ed, Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday night, “There has never been a President that has worked as hard as me! My hours are the longest, and my results are among the best.”
Speculation has swirled as Trump has been photographed with bruising on his hands, which he covers with makeup. The White House has said it’s from constant handshaking.
Trump also appeared to doze off at a recent Cabinet meeting. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president was “listening attentively.”
Bruni mentioned reporting by colleagues Katie Rogers and Dylan Freedman, who found that Trump’s official appearances have decreased nearly 40 percent in his second term. According to their analysis, the president is also starting his scheduled events later in the day.
Trump’s lengthy Truth Social post late Tuesday ranted about his perceived wins, including creating the “Greatest Economy in the History of our Country,” closing the Southern border and what he said was the ending of eight wars.
The president’s comments come after Trump touted his economic agenda at a rally in Pennsylvania Tuesday night, which lasted more than an hour and a half.
While Customs and Border Protection encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border have dramatically decreased since Trump took office, he has more work to do on the economy.
The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in September, with the annual inflation rate climbing to 3 percent. Both figures were lower than experts expected, but the annual inflation rate is still higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. This is the latest CPI data available after the government canceled the release of October’s report due to the government shutdown.
The number of conflicts the president has taken credit for ending is an exaggeration of his peacemaking efforts.
“Despite all of this, the time and work involved, The New York Times, and some others, like to pretend that I am ‘slowing up,’ am maybe not as sharp as I once was, or am in poor physical health, knowing that it is not true, and knowing that I work very hard, probably harder than I have ever worked before,” Trump said.
Bruni mentioned the MRI conducted on Trump at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in October. The White House recently revealed that Trump had “standard” cardiovascular and abdominal imaging done.
Trump mentioned his medical tests in Tuesday night’s Truth Social post, writing, “I go out of my way to do long, thorough, and very boring Medical Examinations at the Great Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, seen and supervised by top doctors, all of whom have given me PERFECT Marks.”
“After all of the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams, and everything else, I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean ‘THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,’” Trump wrote.
A person who commits treason has allegiance to the U.S. and “levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort,” according to federal law.
Seditious conspiracy is when two or more people “conspire to overthrow” the government, “levy war against them,” or “oppose by force the authority thereof.” The law also covers people who conspire to “prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law” or “seize, take, or possess any property of the United States” by force.
The Independent has reached out to the NYT for comment.
The president has previously accused several Democratic lawmakers of treason and sedition for posting a video urging the military to disobey military orders if they are deemed illegal.
Responding to an X post saying that Trump is suggesting it’s treasonous to say he’s in “poor physical health,” the press office for California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has emerged as a Trump troll in recent months, jokingly wrote, “Oops.”
Trump previously railed against The NYT for its reporting on his schedule changes, going as far as to call Rogers, a female reporter who’s covered the White House for the publication since 2018, “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”
The president is also suing The NYT for $15 billion, accusing the publication of defamation. Trump claims the outlet sought to undermine his 2024 presidential run and damage his reputation as a businessman.
The NYT says the lawsuit “has no merit” and accused Trump of trying to “stifle independent reporting and generate P.R. attention.”
Trump accused the publication Tuesday night of being the “true Enemies of the People” and told his followers, “we should do something about it.”
“The best thing that could happen to this Country would be if The New York Times would cease publication because they are a horrible, biased, and untruthful ‘source’ of information,” the president wrote.
Trump has a long history of targeting traditional media, and The NYT isn’t the only publication to face legal action from the president.
Trump has reached a $16 million settlement with Paramount over the editing of a CBS 60 Minutes interview with his then political opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and a $15 million settlement with ABC over comments made about him by host George Stephanopoulos.
