Insiders said it is driven by President Trump who was angered by a New York Times story predicting a staff shake up that included dumping spokesman Sean Spicer. It was headlined: Looking Like a Liar or a Fool: What It Means to Work for Trump.

“Fuck the New York Times,” said the president. “They’re not our friends. We’re never going to win them over,” he added, according to a Trump insider.

The change was most notably seen in Spicer’s latest White House briefings. Where he used to battle with reporters, he shifted to saying little beyond policy statements. For example, in a short 8-minute Air Force One gaggle, he referred to earlier statements six times.

A goal, said the insider, “is to get across to the public that the media are assholes.”