Just as Donald Trump stepped to the podium with King Hussein of Jordan, the New York Times dropped a new article by Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush, his favorite scapegoats on the "fake news" front.

Here is the headline, as it originally appeared at the time of publication. We could call this exhibit "New York Times, Stenographers"

After being beaten up by the likes of David Corn and other reporters, the headline was revised. One might label this exhibit "Repentance"

So you get the idea here. Trump got on the phone with his favorite and most-hated reporters and gave them a story. And what a fiction it was.

First, the lies about Susan Rice. And yes, they're lies. This is where I remind you that Trump nearly always accuses others of doing what he's most likely to do himself.

President Trump said on Wednesday that he thought that the former national security adviser Susan E. Rice may have committed a crime by seeking the identities of Trump associates who were swept up in the surveillance of foreign officials by American spy agencies and that other Obama administration officials may also have been involved.

The president provided no evidence to back his claim. Current and former intelligence officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations have said that nothing they have seen led them to believe that Ms. Rice’s actions were unusual or unlawful. When Americans are swept up in surveillance of foreign officials by intelligence agencies, their identities are supposed to be obscured, but they can be revealed for national security reasons, and intelligence officials say it is a regular occurrence.

“I think it’s going to be the biggest story,” Mr. Trump said in an interview in the Oval Office. “It’s such an important story for our country and the world. It is one of the big stories of our time.”

This is another example of why reporters should not be anxious to promote what Trump says, because what he says is generally blather with no evidence and is usually a smokescreen for what he's doing.

Because Trump is Trump, he couldn't stay away from the Bill O'Reilly story, either. Apparently he believes that it's helpful for a self-professed sexual abuser and harasser to bolster yet another one.

“I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person,” said Mr. Trump, who during the interview was surrounded at his desk by a half-dozen of his highest-ranking aides, including the economic adviser Gary Cohn and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, along with Vice President Mike Pence.

“I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled,” said Mr. Trump. “Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”

It would be good for the media to remember this comment whenever they pretend he gives a damn about women.

Here are a few examples of Bill O'Reilly not doing anything wrong from the complaints filed against him, some of which were later settled. In this specific complaint, it was settled because Andrea Makris had recordings.

Those are some of the milder accusations. I'll include one more.

This is Bill O'Reilly not doing anything wrong in the eyes of Donald Trump, who I will not refer to by his current title. It's disgusting. He's disgusting.

But that didn't stop the New York Times from printing a story repeating his disgusting lies, did it? Despite Maggie Haberman's claim that "news was made" there is no news here. Just lies, and a wink and nod at Bill O'Reilly from another serial sexual harasser.