The dispute between President Trump and Bloomberg over off-the-record remarks later published by the Toronto Star took a new turn Saturday, after writer Daniel Dale tweeted none of the Bloomberg interviewers was his source.
“I don’t want to be a party to the president’s smearing of excellent, ethical journalists,” Dale wrote in the first of five tweets in a thread on the subject.
I’d said I wasn’t going to say anything about my source for the quotes Trump made off the record to Bloomberg.
However, I don’t want to be party to the president’s smearing of excellent, ethical journalists. So I can say this: none of the Bloomberg interviewers was my source.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 1, 2018
Dale reported that Trump told Bloomberg News on Thursday that he would not compromise with Canada on a trade deal the two nations were working on ahead of a Friday deadline, and any deal would be “totally on our terms.”
Trump took to Twitter afterward to complain about the leak, calling his off-the-record nature of his comments “a powerful understanding” that was “blatantly violated.”
While Trump did not initially point to Bloomberg as the source of the leak, he claimed the company violated the agreement to keep the comments off the record and asked if they would apologize in a tweet late Friday.
Dale said he would not divulge the source of the leak, but “the president is incorrect when he claims he was wronged by his interviewers.”
So: I’m not going to engage in an “OK if it isn’t them than who was it” game, but the president is incorrect when he claims he was wronged by his interviewers.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 1, 2018
It has been widely reported, included in a book released this year by journalist Ronald Kessler, that Trump offers the media anonymous tips.
The negotiations with Canada on a trade deal that were the subject of the leaks fizzled Friday. U.S. and Mexico reached a bilateral agreement earlier this week that the Trump administration has claimed will “supplant” the North American Free Trade Agreement, but failed to gain Canada’s support by the end of the week. The deal will head to Congress while Canada and the U.S. continue negotiations.
