The New York Times on Sunday lashed out at President Donald Trump for calling its reporter a “lightweight analyst” from a “Failing” newspaper “that always gets it wrong.”

David E. Sanger, a longtime correspondent for the newspaper, dissected a Trump Truth Social post on Friday that claimed the U.S. had nearly met its objectives against Iran and was “winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.”

Sanger’s nine-paragraph story, headlined “Trump Signals Retreat From Goal of Regime Change in Iran,” concluded that the president appeared to be scrapping intentions to topple the government and completely cripple Iran’s nuclear fuel capability. All the while, he added, Trump is trying to sell the American people on a $200 billion war budget supplement amid rising gas prices and GOP concern about economic backlash to the war.

The Times forcefully defended Sanger in a post from a spokesperson on X.

“David Sanger brings more than 40 years of experience as a foreign and Washington correspondent for The Times — and a reputation for non-partisanship — to his work. His piece is a fair and thorough analysis of what the U.S. military and American diplomats have and have not accomplished so far, and helps the country understand the state of the war and the president’s choices going forward,” spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander wrote. “It’s exactly the type of analysis an independent journalist is supposed to be doing.”

Trump’s mixed messaging on the war has been a running theme since the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28.

His deployment of thousands of Marines to the Middle East and potentially more to come seems to clash with his claim that the operation is winding down as well.

The report from David Sanger (left) about Donald Trump is "exactly the type of analysis" required, The New York Times said in response to the president's attack.

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