US treasury secretary Scott Bessent launched a sharp attack on The New York Times at the paper’s own DealBook Summit in New York City on Wednesday, accusing it of running “distorted” coverage of President Donald Trump’s health while failing to confront questions about former President Joe Biden’s decline.In an onstage exchange with Times journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bessant said the paper was losing credibility and predicted, “You know, in 20, 30, 40, 50 years, the New York Times is no longer the paper of record,” according to reports from Mediaite. Calling the publication a “fever swamp,” he added that he no longer reads the Times himself, as cited by NYP. Bessant was responding to a Times report that said Trump, 79, had “shorter public days,” later starts and moments in which he appeared fatigued during meetings. He dismissed the story as fabricated: “I read this article, like ‘President Trump is slowing down. President Trump’s mental capacity –’ It is a hundred percent fake. Like he only called me twice at 2 in the morning last week instead of three times.”The Times article also said Trump now holds fewer public events than he did during his first year in office and travels domestically at a slower pace. It cited instances in which Trump’s eyes “drooped” during midday meetings and mentioned undisclosed medical procedures. Bessant countered that a lengthy Cabinet meeting this week showed an engaged president and accused the paper of overlooking the administration’s pace of work.He broadened his criticism to Biden-era coverage, calling it “one of the greatest scandals of all time” and alleging a “cover-up” of Biden’s condition. Sorkin pushed back, arguing their were concerns about the Biden’s coverage and the scrutiny had been lacking, it meant examining Trump’s health and raising questions about it was “probably fair.” Bessant rejected the comparison, saying the Times was inventing narratives: “Where was the New York Times? We just had a three-hour cabinet meeting yesterday, Andrew!” He questioned how anyone could “invoke the 25th Amendment” if cabinet secretaries rarely met Biden.The exchange came even as the Times reported strong business performance in the last quarter, with more than 12 million subscribers – almost all digital – and nearly half a million new digital-only subscribers added.Speaking later on Fox News, Bessent said he had to fact check the journalist as such reporting will not let people have coorect constuct of “great second Trump presidency.”“As I got there he immediately went into attack and I just couldn’t take the hypocrisy of it all… I don’t read the Times anymore but people send me articles and the last couple of articles I have got are so far from truth and I think how are people gonna construct narrative of this great second Trump Presidency in an accurate way when a paper of supposed record is so far off.”
