President Donald Trump has blasted The New York Times for an article alleging that the United States was ramping up its digital incursions into Russia's power grid.
In a pair of tweets late on June 15, Trump asserted that the story was untrue and denounced reporters as "cowards."
"This is a virtual act of Treason by a once great paper so desperate for a story, any story, even if bad for our Country," he also wrote.
The Times called Trump's accusation "dangerous" and said it had told officials about the article before it was published and no security issues were raised.
The newspaper’s report, quoting unidentified current and former government officials, said the United States had stepped up cyber incursions to affect Russia's electric power grid as a way to punish Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and deter future cyberactivity by Russia.