The New York Times on Thursday told President Donald Trump that “no retraction is needed” and it will not be apologizing for its coverage of an official report this week that cast doubt on how effective missile strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities had been.
Trump on Wednesday threatened to sue the paper, as well as CNN, for their coverage Tuesday on a Defense Intelligence Agency report that said the strikes set back Iran’s push to develop nuclear weapons by “only a few months”; the president had previously touted key Iranian facilities were “obliterated” in the weekend attack, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer.
On Thursday, Times attorney David McGraw sent a letter to Trump and attorney Alejandro Brito responding to the president’s threats of suing, saying that the paper will not be walking back its report.
“No apology will be forthcoming,” McGraw wrote. “We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.”
McGraw added: “I must admit I was surprised by your letter’s unwavering certainty that the U.S. air strike ‘unequivocally eliminated Iran’s nuclear capabilities.’ That was at odds not just with the preliminary assessments of the U.S. intelligence services that we quoted but — of more direct relevance to this letter — at odds with what your client said following the publication of the Article.” He then included a quote from Trump this week saying “we don’t know” how effective the strikes were just yet, but that it could have been “very severe.”
Read the full letter in the tweet embed below:
Here's the letter NYT lead newsroom attorney David McCraw sent to Trump. The paper said: "No retraction is needed. No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so." https://t.co/JKe9bj1aI2 pic.twitter.com/lZwZRnZonb
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) June 26, 2025
The president has ripped the Times and CNN this week following their respective stories on the DIA findings, saying the outlets are “scum.”
Other members of the Trump Administration have called the report bogus as well, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who said U.S. intelligence shows the sites had been “destroyed.” And earlier on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand should be “ashamed” of her coverage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, on Thursday said the strikes resulted in”enormous damage.” IAEA director Rafael Grossi added, “I think ‘annihilated’ is too much” to say until there is further inspection.
