'New York Times' Reporter Fires Back After Trump Calls His Iran War Reporting 'Treason' During Air Force One Melt Down

New York Times journalist David Sanger affirmed that "reporting is not treason" after President Donald Trump accused him of committing "treason" by reporting on his war with Iran during a meltdown aboard Air Force One.

During Trump's flight back from China, Sanger, the White House and national security correspondent for the Times, pressed Trump on the rationale for continuing the bombing campaign, asking what purpose another round of strikes would serve given that “38 days” of bombing had failed to produce political change in Iran.

Trump gave the following angry response, claiming he "got a total military victory" that Sanger and other "fake news" reporters hadn't bothered to write about:

“I got a total military victory. But the fake news, guys like you, write incorrectly. You’re a fake guy. We had a total military victory."

"We knocked out their entire navy, we knocked out their entire air force, we knocked out all of their anti-aircraft weaponry, we knocked out all of their radar, we knocked out all of their leaders, number one, and then we knocked out all of their leaders in the second division, and we knocked out numerous of their leaders in the third division, and they’re very confused."

"We’ve had a total victory, except by people like you that don’t write the truth. You should write...I actually think it’s sort of treasonous what you write, but you and the 'New York Times' and CNN, I would say, are the worst.”

“You should be ashamed. I actually think it is treason when you write, like, ‘They’re doing well militarily,’ and they have no navy, no air force, no anti-anything.”

You can watch their exchange in the video below.

Trump appeared to be reacting to a May 5 news analysis by Sanger, who wrote that although Iran’s navy had effectively been destroyed, that outcome represented only part of the goals Trump laid out when he initiated the war on February 28, writing:

"So far, Iran’s nuclear stockpile has not been touched and there is no agreement, at least yet, to ship it out of the country or to dilute it so that it cannot easily be used to manufacture weapons."

"While intelligence estimates differ, the U.S. assessments suggest that more than half of Iran’s missiles and launchers survived. It is too early to tell about support of the proxy groups, which were shredded by Israeli attacks."

Sanger later appeared on CNN and told anchor Kaitlan Collins that Trump’s reaction ultimately reflected his growing frustration that Iran still has not given in to Trump's demands over the country's nuclear capabilities, saying:

“Look, if if he had achieved the military goal, the political goals that he set out, not just the military goals, then the strait would be open, and Iran’s nuclear program would be being dismantled right now. And it’s not. Maybe it will be, and maybe that’s exactly how it will play out. But it certainly has not thus far.”

He also stressed that however inconvenient the facts, "reporting is not treason":

"To the treason statement. Look, reporting is not treason, right? And you’ve been on the receiving end of these probably more than I have, and we all know what this is about. It is an effort to intimidate news organizations into not doing the reporting."

"But reporting is the fundamental First Amendment responsibility that we have to go about. And, you know, that’s what the founders were trying to protect when they wrote the First Amendment. And that’s what we go to work every day to do, some days imperfectly."

"I would not argue for a moment that we get it all right, but the president seems to conflate news he doesn’t want to hear with treason. And that’s not the case."

You can hear what Sanger said in the video below.

Many have joined Sanger in condemning Trump's remarks.

In response to Trump's attack, a Times spokesperson issued a statement stressing that press freedom is "foundational to a free press and the work that America’s founders wrote the First Amendment to protect."

The spokesperson said this "includes making clear when the claims of government officials and the reality of their actions don’t line up." They said Times reporters "have been working carefully to provide the public with the fullest possible understanding of the reality of the military action in Iran."

Times reporters, they added, "will continue this important, constitutionally protected work."