Donald Trump slammed The Washington Post in a Truth Social post late Sunday, soon after the newspaper published a bombshell report alleging ties between its incoming executive editor and a “self-described ‘thief.’”
For the former president, who has long railed against mainstream media outlets and has held a grudge against The Washington Post since his first presidential campaign, the unfolding controversy served as a timely opening to re-up his attacks.
“The Washington Post is absolutely blowing up with Fake Stories! They ought to clean up their act - Start writing the TRUTH, and maybe they’d get some of their Readers back,” Trump wrote. “The Washington Post is on its last leg, there’s no reason for them anymore.”
A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment to POLITICO.
The Washington Post has faced internal and external scrutiny since CEO and publisher Will Lewis announced earlier this month the abrupt replacement of Executive Editor Sally Buzbee with two of his former associates. On Saturday, The New York Times reported Lewis and the Post’s incoming top editor Robert Winnett used stolen phone and company records as the basis of two articles while at the British newspaper the Sunday Times.
The New York Times also reported that Lewis paid a source more than £100,000 for information — a violation of most American newsrooms’ ethics. He declined to answer a list of questions to the New York Times through a Washington Post spokesperson. Winnett did not respond to The New York Times’ calls and messages.
On Sunday, The Washington Post published its own report about the British media executives’ time at The Sunday Times. The article claimed that Winnett collaborated with a man who later admitted to using deceptive tactics to obtain confidential information, and that Lewis accepted a payment for at least one story.
In the article, Lewis declined to comment through a Washington Post spokesperson, while Winnett did not respond to a list of questions.
Trump wrote in his Truth Social post that The Washington Post has “fools and stupid people … who are in no way qualified to be doing what they are doing” and referenced Jeff Bezos, the multibillionaire Amazon founder who owns the newspaper. Bezos has previously taken aim at Trump for criticizing journalists and the media.
“You would think Bezos, who is losing more than $100 Million a year on that ‘RAG,’ would want to at least see REAL Journalism, not Fake Stories that do nothing but hurt and demean our Country,” Trump wrote. Last year, The New York Times reported that The Washington Post was on track to lose about $100 million in 2023.
Bezos has not publicly commented on The Washington Post’s editorial shakeup, but he has expressed support for Lewis and his decisions in private meetings, according to the New York Times.
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