http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-01/trump-resists-calls-for-release-of-ny-times-transcriptsDonald Trump is pushing back against calls from his Republican rivals to allow the release of an off-the-record recording in which he allegedly indicated to The New York Times editorial board a willingness to be politically expedient regarding his campaign promises.
The flap started over a column posted by Buzzfeed’s Editor-In-Chief Ben Smith, who said the recording of the conversation – standard for candidates seeking a newspaper’s endorsement – had reached “near-mythical status at the Times.”
Smith cited a post from Times columnist Gail Collins, who was in the room for the off-the-record conversation, that described Trump’s proposals for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and plans to deport 11 million people in the U.S. illegally were likely to end up “the first bid in some future monster negotiation session.”
“Sources familiar with the recording and transcript,” Smith wrote, “tell me that the second sentence is a bit more than speculation. It reflects, instead, something Trump said about the flexibility of his hardline anti-immigration stance.”
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., arrives for the Senate Republicans' policy lunch in the Capitol on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015.
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In an interview with Fox News Monday night, Trump slammed the Times for violating the agreement to keep the contents of the January meeting off-the-record.
"Yeah, of course they're leaking it," Trump said. "The most dishonest media group. And it's also failing. I call it the failing New York Times. It's doing so badly, it's dying. But I did. We had a board meeting. It was off the record. All of a sudden, they leak it. It's all over the place."
Fox host Sean Hannity pressed Trump on whether his proposals were merely negotiating positions.
"It's negotiable," he said. "Things are negotiable. I'll be honest with you – I'll make the wall two feet shorter, or something. I mean, everything's negotiable."
"Building it?” Trump added. “Not negotiable."
The interview came after Trump’s main rivals for the Republican nomination, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, blasted him over the rumors, implying that it proved he was unprincipled and only pretending to be conservative in order to win the nomination.
"I call on Donald: Ask the New York Times to release the tape,” Cruz said on CNN Monday.
Rubio used the dustup to continue his recent tack against the front-runner, who he has repeatedly this week called “a con man” who cannot be allowed to take over “the party of Lincoln and Reagan.”
At an Arkansas rally, Rubio said Trump told the times “what he really believes about immigration, what sounds like what he told them was different than what he is telling you but it was off the record."
"Donald Trump should ask The New York Times to release the audio of his interview with him so we can see exactly what it is he truly believes about this issue that he has made the cornerstone of his campaign,” Rubio said.
And Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee who has stepped up his criticism of Trump in recent days, calling also for the billionaire real estate developer to release his tax returns and excoriating him for wavering over whether to denounce support from a Ku Klux Klan leader, speculated the Times transcript would include something that would cause voters to turn against Trump.
“Another bombshell? Trump should authorize The New York Times to release the transcript of his ed board review,” he tweeted, along with the hashtag: #WhatIsHeHiding
