The op-ed prompted fury from President Trump, who blasted what he called the “failing New York Times” and questioned whether the unnamed official existed. This is Trump, speaking after receiving an award from the National Sheriffs’ Association on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump: “So, if the failing New York Times has an anonymous editorial—can you believe it? Anonymous, meaning gutless—a gutless editorial, we’re doing a great job.”

Critics of the administration seized on the issue as the latest proof that Donald Trump is unfit for office, while others criticized The New York Times for taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous op-ed and said the unnamed official should step forward publicly. Journalist Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept tweeted, “The irony in the op-ed from the NYT’s anonymous WH coward is glaring and massive: s/he accuses Trump of being 'anti-democratic' while boasting of membership in an unelected cabal that covertly imposes their own ideology with zero democratic accountability, mandate or transparency.”