The author claimed that a cabal of officials working in the White House of US President Donald Trump is trying to depose the president "one way or another."
Commentators and journalists ranging from staunch Trump supporters to CNN reporters have likened the revelation to that of a coup.
Trump, for his part, has fiercely denounced the editorial in a series of public statements and tweets. In the immediate aftermath of the op-ed's publishing, the president said the New York Times was failing and dependent on him for views. Then, he wondered whether the source had committed an act of treason. After that, he pondered whether the author was "another phony source," adding that if not, the New York Times "must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government."
The following day, Trump blamed "the Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media." Later, he called on the New York Times to "investigate themselves." White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders admonished journalists who asked for comment on who the author was, telling them to ask the paper's opinion desk and tweeting out a phone number through which to do so.