NYT returns fire after Trump lashes out at report about his health

President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at a New York Times over a report about the signs of his fading health, attacking a female co-reporter's appearance in the process. The paper responded promptly, standing by its report and pushing back against "name-calling and personal insults."

The report, titled "Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office," was published on Tuesday by reporters Katie Rogers and Dylan Freedman. In it, they detail Trump's increasingly short workdays as president, his shrinking schedule of public events and his tendency to seemingly nod off during meetings, a trend for which there is growing video evidence, all signs pointing to the impact of his age on his ability to do his job.

In response, Trump took to Truth Social with a lengthy attack against the article, the Times, and the reporters, singling out Rogers with insults about her appearance.

"The Creeps at the Failing New York Times are at it again," Trump wrote, followed by a long list of purported accomplishments made during his second term. "Yet despite all of this the Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold New York Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite. They know this is wrong, as is almost every thing that they write about me, including election results, ALL PURPOSELY NEGATIVE. This cheap 'RAG' is truly an 'ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.' The writer of the story, Katie Rogers, who is assigned to write only bad things about me, is a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out."

He also boasted about a recent "PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST," though news of that was also dogged by concerns about a mysterious MRI he received for unclear reasons.

On Wednesday, the Times released a statement hitting back at the president for this post, standing by its reporters and their work.

"The Times’s reporting is accurate and built on first hand reporting of the facts," the statement read. "Name-calling and personal insults don’t change that, nor will our journalists hesitate to cover this administration in the face of intimidation tactics like this. Expert and thorough reporters like Katie Rogers exemplify how an independent and free press helps the American people better understand their government and its leaders.”