Trump attacks NYT over breastfeeding story

President Donald Trump on Monday attacked a New York Times story that reported how his administration attempted to weaken a World Health Assembly resolution to promote breastfeeding, saying women shouldn’t be denied access to formula. The president's tweet was spillover from a feud over a proposed breastfeeding resolution at the World Health Assembly earlier this year, which the U.S. opposed so strongly it threatened trade measures against the country that introduced it, according to the New York Times. “The failing NY Times Fake News story today about breast feeding must be called out. The U.S. strongly supports breast feeding but we don’t believe women should be denied access to formula. Many women need this option because of malnutrition and poverty,” Trump said in a tweet. According to the Times, the resolution was written to encourage breastfeeding and to limit “inaccurate or misleading” marketing for breast milk substitutes. The resolution, introduced by Ecuador, did not bar the use of formula. When attempts to soften language in the resolution were unsuccessful, the U.S. stunned the global community by threatening retaliatory trade measures against Ecuador and the withdrawal of military aid. Ecuador backed off, as did a number of countries that said they feared the same retaliation. The resolution was later introduced by Russia. At that point, the U.S. did not fight back, the Times notes. The New York Times defended its reporting in a tweet to the president, and provided a link to the story in question. "Our report is accurate. You can read it here," the Times said. source: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/09/trump-new-york-times-breastfeeding-703503 #Headlines by: smurray@politico.com (Stephanie Murray)

Original Post: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/09/trump-new-york-times-breastfeeding-703503