President Donald Trump has long had a soft spot for The New York Post, a hometown paper he can usually count on for support. Before entering politics, he was said to call in anonymous tips about himself to Page Six. In the White House, he reportedly scans the conservative tabloid each morning, frequently amplifies its headlines on Truth Social and even has one of its front pages framed in gold just outside the Oval Office.
That affinity makes the paper’s latest editorial all the more stinging.
On Tuesday, the Post’s editorial board ran a blistering 500-word dressing-down of the billionaire president, claiming his and his family’s controversial financial dealings have made for “ugly optics” and jeopardized the GOP’s chances in the midterms.
“No two ways about it: The Trump Justice Department’s settlement of the Trump IRS lawsuit looks terrible,” the opinion piece states.
The recently inked deal — which resolves Trump’s unprecedented $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS — establishes a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for Trump’s allies and “forever” bans the agency from pursuing claims against the president or his family.
“A blanket guarantee that the prez and his family will never ever face an IRS audit?” the editorial questions. “A $1.8 billon ‘anti-weaponization fund,’ courtesy of the taxpayers, to be doled out to people who claim they were victimized by Biden-era ‘lawfare’ — with no evident need to even show evidence?”
“This is on a par with President Joe Biden’s final-days blanket pardons for Hunter and the rest of the Biden clan,” the board, overseen by the paper’s top leaders, adds.
The piece also calls to attention other eye-catching financial data points about the 79-year-old president. Namely, that he has executed more than 3,600 stock trades since his inauguration and that his personal fortune is reported to have ballooned from $2.4 billion to $6.3 billion. At the same time, his sons are involved in “highly lucrative crypto dealings” across the Middle East, the piece states.
“None of it is a good look, however legal or aboveboard it may in fact be,” the editorial board writes. “It comes at a time when regular Americans suffer spiking energy prices (and the ensuing economic troubles) caused by the Iran war — sacrifices that may be worth the gain of permanently defanging the Islamic Republic, but sacrifices nonetheless.”
The president’s handling of the ongoing Iran war — largely unpopular with Americans — hasn’t helped matters.
“As far as almost anyone can tell, the war is stuck in a bizarre Twilight Zone: now largely paused for much longer than the weeks of actual offensive operations, with no clear sign of just how or when it will end,” the piece states.
The Post’s staff also note that inflation has now outstripped wage growth for the first time in three years.
“We are going backward on inflation, despite the stock market, and while Democrats are crazy, the conflict-of-interest stuff is going to stick, especially if they come away from November with oversight powers,” they write.
“Somebody needs to get on top of this, with an eye not just on the White House speaking directly to the public’s concerns, but on how what it’s doing looks to average Americans,” the piece concludes.
When reached by The Independent, a White House spokesperson didn’t directly respond to the Post’s editorial, but described Trump as “a one-of-a-kind leader” who “has made our country greater than ever before” and has taken “bold, decisive action to protect the United States.”
Trump’s recent dealings have been met with outrage by other conservative voices as well.
Earlier this month, Republican senators reportedly erupted behind closed doors as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche tried to defend the Trump administration’s “anti-weaponization” fund.
“Fiery does not begin to cut it,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz said on his podcast, while recounting the exchange. “My guess is there’re probably 45 senators in the room, at least half of them were blasting the attorney general, and they were p*****.”
Trump, a native New Yorker, has frequently applauded the Post, including in October 2024, when the 224-year-old paper, founded by Alexander Hamilton, endorsed him.
He wrote on Truth Social: “I LOVE THE NEW YORK POST. GREAT ELECTION COVERAGE. THANKS FOR THE WONDERFUL ENDORSEMENT!!!”
However, the relationship has soured at times. In November 2022, the tabloid published a cover story headline dubbing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “DeFuture.”
The next day, Trump released a statement saying the “no longer great New York Post…is all in for Governor Ron DeSanctimonious.”
