Donald Trump is angry at a New York Times report claiming his staff don’t know how to switch on some of the lights in the White House.
The NYT claimed Trump’s aides “confer in the dark” in the evenings because they cannot operate the lights in the Cabinet Room, in the latest scathing article about the inner workings of Trump’s White House.
Based on interviews with aides, ex-staff and government officials, the paper says “visitors conclude their meetings and then wander around, testing doorknobs until finding one that leads to an exit”, while advisor Stephen Bannon plots future attacks in “a darkened, mostly empty West Wing”.
The article also claims Trump had not properly read the order he signed putting Bannon on the National Security Council, an unprecedented move for a person in his role.
But the charge Trump’s staff can’t find light switches had social media in stitches.
Pete Souza, who was the White House chief photographer under Barack Obama, trolled Trump with an Instagram post that showed the cabinet room bathed in light.
While people on Twitter reacted with astonishment.
Despite the NYT article’s humiliating allegations, Trump saw fit to tweet about other things earlier on Monday, saying “any negative polls are fake news” because “people want border security and extreme vetting”. He also promoted an appearance on Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor that will air on Monday.
It took Trump until 11.32am the day the NYT article was published for Trump to attack the paper for writing “total fiction concerning me”.
Trump’s loathing and war of words with the NYT has only escalated since he won the presidency. He wrote: “They have gotten it wrong for two years and now are making up stories and sources!”
When he tweeted the NYT article, at least one person was grateful.
All this follows the now debunked claim that Trump flickered a White House light on and off when Fox News presenters suggested he do so to show he was watching.
Fox then revealed to its audience the footage was a joke, meaning there is still no concrete evidence anyone in the White House knows how to work the lights.