PLOT TWIST! Donald Trump saves Stars and Stripes, journos credit Jeffrey Goldberg instead

Greg P. | 5:22 PM on September 04, 2020

And just like that, President Trump saves Stars and Stripes from the chopping block:

The United States of America will NOT be cutting funding to @starsandstripes magazine under my watch. It will continue to be a wonderful source of information to our Great Military!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2020

Journos are noting that the cut was in his own budget, however:

Note: The slashing of Stars and Stripes funding was proposed earlier this year in *Trump's own budget request to Congress* https://t.co/UDT50dcJ11

— Paul Sonne (@PaulSonne) September 4, 2020

“POTUS reverses course and undermines Esper again”:

After the Pentagon said they were cutting the paper, POTUS reverses course and undermines Esper again. https://t.co/yIIdSvepRc

— paul mcleary (@paulmcleary) September 4, 2020

The NYT’s Maggie Haberman reports that this was “an Esper prerogative” and the president wasn’t aware of the cut:

White House officials are calling this an Esper prerogative, say Trump wasn't aware. He was shown/told of the media coverage and reacted.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 4, 2020

Journos, however, are crediting The Atlantic and Jeffrey Goldberg for saving the paper:

Hmmm, it looks like the fallout from @TheAtlantic article helped save a venerable news organization. Quite a shift in administration policy in a few hours. https://t.co/rdJvHimlwH

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) September 4, 2020