President Donald Trump attacked The New York Times in a tweet Saturday, claiming the paper made up a “senior White House official” for its story about the canceled North Korea summit. The official, a member of Trump’s National Security Council, actually does exist and led a briefing at the White House on Thursday for reporters. The White House even provided its own transcript of the briefing that Trump essentially dismissed as fake news. As is often the case on such background briefings, the official asked not to be identified by name and instead be referred to as a “senior White House official,” according to several witnesses who saw the briefing in person or listened to it over the phone. But, after his own official provided the briefing, Trump complained that the Times story referred to a White House official “who doesn’t exist.”“Use real people, not phony sources,” he wrote.

Source: Huffington Post May 27, 2018 01:41 UTC