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President Donald Trump blasted The New York Times for publishing the op-ed.
- The New York Times published a blistering op-ed from an anonymous senior Trump official who claimed there is a secret resistance inside the White House.
- The editor behind the piece said in an interview on Thursday that he has spoken to the author since publication.
- He also revealed that he was in direct contact with the author before publication and said that extensive research was done to fully confirm their identity.
The senior official who published an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times on Wednesday claiming members of the Trump administration are working to undermine the president is still in contact with the newspaper.
Jim Dao, the Times' op-ed editor, spoke on the newspaper's podcast, "The Daily" on Thursday, where host Michael Barbaro asked: "Have you heard from the writer since the piece was published?"
"I have," Dao responded.
When asked by Barbaro if the writer had been surprised by the strong reaction and popularity of the piece, Dao said: "I'm not quite sure how surprised they were."
But Dao said he was surprised by the reaction to the piece, and that he perhaps should have been "more nervous" in light of its popularity. "I thought it would be well read. I had no idea," he said.
Dao also confirmed that he had been in direct contact with the author before the piece was published on Wednesday, although he was originally connected about the piece through an intermediary.
"I did then have direct communication with the writer," Dao said.
Dao said he had to get to a point where he was "100% confident that they were who they are" - a process that involved research and background checks.
"Based on those conversations, [I] came away feeling totally confident that this was the official in the Trump administration that they claimed they were," he said.
Trump criticized the anonymity of the article, calling the author "gutless." Dao said in the interview that the Times' op-ed section rarely grants anonymity, but does so when the author is in danger, personally or professionally.
He said he couldn't imagine any circumstances in which the Times identified the author.