U.S. President Donald Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate the New York Times, citing national security concerns, Reuters news agency reports.

“Jeff Sessions should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it’s national security.”

President Trump also threatened to take legal action against the news outlet.

“We’re going to see. I’m looking at that right now.”

Since the POTUS did not indicate what sort of legal action he was considering, it remains unclear on what legal grounds he could act on in a case against the NYT, Reuters noted. The agency contacted the Department of Justice, which neither confirmed nor denied investigations.

The President’s comments are in reference to the “resistance” New York Times op-ed, which has been occupying the headlines of U.S. and international media for days. The piece portrays Trump as an impulsive, erratic leader, detailing the power dynamics within the Trump administration, alleging that there exists a West Wing movement focused on resisting and undermining the commander-in-chief.

“The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making,” the administration official wrote.

“We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.”

But, not everyone is applauding the anonymous author.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, conservative pundit Tucker Carlson said that Trump’s attempts to do what he promised “are not a travesty, they are a sign the system is working as designed.” Similarly, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald characterized the resistance West Wing movement as a “covert coup.”

Trump himself called the anonymous author “gutless” via Twitter, arguing that the New York Times “must turn him/her over” for National Security purposes.

Trump vs. Sessions

Today, however, President Trump dropped Jeff Sessions’ name, putting more pressure on the Justice Department, and the Attorney General. Perhaps more importantly, Trump is putting pressure on an already strained relationship which, so it seems, is close to reaching its breaking point.

It is safe to assume that Trump’s frustration with his own Attorney General – in the event of Sessions’ refusal to probe the New York Times – will continue to grow. But, will Trump fire Sessions if he refuses to cooperate?

According to CNN, although Sessions is well-aware of the growing animosity between him and the POTUS, he has not considered resigning yet. But, CNN‘s sources familiar with Sessions’ thinking claim that the Attorney General has come to terms with the fact that his turbulent relationship with Donald Trump will not end well.