It's only President Donald Trump who will gain from the New York Times scathing anonymous op-ed.Gage Skidmore / Flickr.

If the US President is falling apart then the New York Times anonymous op-ed writer needs to reveal themselves and sound the alarm as loudly as possible otherwise it's the White House and Trump that benefits.

Donald Trump is furious at his hidden attacker and he has every right to be.

I rarely agree with Donald Trump, but I believe he is right to pour scorn on the anonymous writer of The New York Times op-ed column, which outlines his bizarre behavior in the White House.

Even if every word is true, it is still an anonymous attack, which is all too easy to carry out.

Track down to the reader’s comments on any IrishCentral article and you will find a plethora of attacks, often biting and savage, on articles which they disagree with.

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It costs nothing to call yourself Tom Thumb or George Best or whatever anonymous name you adopt but don’t expect to be taken seriously.

If the author of the Times piece really feels that Trump is coming apart he/she owes it to the American public to reveal themselves and sound the alarm as clearly and passionately as they can.

President Donald Trump.

If it is a matter of such great importance the person needs to strip away any doubt that he/she is just “crying wolf” from behind a chain link fence like so many others.

The country needs honesty and bravery at this time and anonymous writers don’t hack it in my book.

If catastrophe is really on the horizon why not man/woman up and say that the President is not rational and he needs to go. Stand behind your arguments. Don’t hide from them.

The New York Times will no doubt defend their honor to the last, but they have breached a very important code, anonymous sources cheapen and degrade a story. They do not add to it.

The net impact will be to make matters worse as you can hardly blame Donald Trump for feeling more paranoid than ever and in the wake of the double hammer blow delivered by Woodward and now Mr./Ms. Anonymous you can hardly blame the man.

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Not since Richard Nixon has a president been so badly beaten up by his own staff and beset by journalistic thunderbolts.

It is incredible, but Bob Woodward may well bring down a second American president making him one of the most powerful men in history.

Woodward uses anonymous sources but has them on tape and he has penned his articles under his own byline, so kudos to him.

The only fault I find is that even when Trump asks a highly relevant question ie. “What are we still doing in Afghanistan after 16 years?” It is dismissed as a dumb query.

But to Mr./Mrs. Anonymous I say “You have made matters worse, come clean if it really is the crisis you believe it is. Your move will only make the president more irrational in his actions, not less. The loss of your job will be the least of your problems and you will have done the state some service.”

Worse we may inherit a wag the dog scenario where a desperate President will try to start a race war or a military war to distract attention.

As to who it is who wrote the op-ed, long years of journalism always lead me to the same calculation. I can only ask the question “Cui bono?” (“Who benefits?”). That would be Vice President Mike Pence who has many friends in the administration.

Who knows?

Come out, come out whoever you are.

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