Photo-Illustration: Daily Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images 
 
 As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump used his close alliance with the National Enquirer to attack his enemies. Now that he’s president, he’s continuing to benefit from the tabloid’s support. 
 
 This morning in a Washington Post op-ed, Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski disclosed that White House officials offered to spike an Enquirer story about their romance if the pair apologized to Trump for the show’s critical coverage. In recent months, Scarborough and Brzezinski have questioned Trump’s mental state and fitness for office. They elaborated on the op-ed on MSNBC this morning. Morning Joe regular Donny Deutsch said it was “blackmail” for Trump to use a hit-piece in the Enquirer to extract an apology from media critics. Trump then tweeted a quasi-confirmation of the behind-the-scenes conversations, saying that Scarborough called to enlist his help to kill the story. Scarborough called Trump’s version a “lie,” tweeting that he never spoke to the president. 
 
 According to three sources familiar with the private conversations, what happened was this: After the inauguration, Morning Joe’s coverage of Trump turned sharply negative. “This presidency is fake and failed,” Brzezinski said on March 6, for example. Around this time, Scarborough and Brzezinski found out the Enquirer was preparing a story about their affair. While Scarborough and Brzezinski’s relationship had been gossiped about in media circles for some time, it was not yet public, and the tabloid was going to report that they had left their spouses to be together. 
 
 In mid-April, Scarborough texted with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner about the pending Enquirer story. Kushner told Scarborough that he would need to personally apologize to Trump in exchange for getting Enquirer owner David Pecker to stop the story. (A spokesperson for Kushner declined to comment.) Scarborough says he refused, and the Enquirer published the story in print on June 5, headlined “Morning Joe Sleazy Cheating Scandal!” 
 
 The Morning Joe co-hosts decided to talk about the episode a day after Trump inaccurately tweeted that Brzezinski attended a New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago “bleeding badly from a face-lift.” (A photo from that evening backs up Scarborough and Brzezinski’s denial of this.) While the Enquirer denies that Trump encouraged Pecker to investigate the MSNBC hosts, Trump himself has pushed the story publicly. Last August, he tweeted, “Some day, when things calm down, I’ll tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns!” 
 
 In a statement, Enquirer editor Dylan Howard said: “We have no knowledge of any discussions between the White House and Joe and Mika about our story, and absolutely no involvement in those discussions.” 
 
 Note: Gabriel Sherman is an NBC News/MSNBC contributor. ||||| MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Friday accused the White House of threatening them with a negative tabloid story as a way to extract an apology for their tough comments on President Donald Trump. 
 
 In an op-ed article in the Washington Post, and then in a live appearance on "Morning Joe," the couple said top White House officials warned them earlier this year that the National Enquirer was planning an exposé about their relationship, and urged them to beg Trump to get the paper to back off. 
 
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 The accusation came a day after Trump attacked the newly engaged couple on Twitter. Scarborough and Brzezinski were friendly with Trump in the early months of his candidacy, and had him on their show often. Scarborough and Brzezinski told Vanity Fair that when they visited the White House just after Trump's inauguration, the president suggested he could host their wedding, or officiate. 
 
 But that warmness has evaporated, as Scarborough and Brzezinski have stepped up their criticism of him, and Trump has lobbed back invective. 
 
 "The president and his relationship with the media is now starting to resemble 'The Jerry Springer Show' at its worst, with taunts and insults and name calling," said Jonathan Marshall, a professor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. While bashing journalists works well with his base of supporters, "I don't think it's good for his presidency in the long term or the country in the long term." 
 
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 Scarborough said on "Morning Joe" that he got calls from "three people at the very top of the administration" pointing out that Trump was friends with "the guy that runs the National Enquirer." 
 
 It was an apparent reference to David Pecker, the chief executive of American Media, Inc., which publishes the Enquirer. Pecker is a longtime friend of Trump, and their friendship was the subject of a New Yorker article this week. 
 
 The Enquirer has been reliably pro-Trump. It helped Trump launch his campaign by running personal essays about him. It published critical articles about his rivals, including an attempt to link Sen. Ted Cruz's father to John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. And it often portrayed President Trump as heroic with headlines such as “TRUMP’S PROFILE IS IDEAL FOR THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF, SAY TOP EXPERTS” and "TRUMP DECLARES WAR ON DICTATORS!” 
 
 Scarborough, describing his conversations with the White House aides, continued: "And they said, if you call the president up and you apologize for your coverage, then he will pick up the phone and basically spike the story." 
 
 Scarborough and Brzezinski moderate a town hall during the presidential primaries with Trump in Charleston, South Carolina on Feb. 17, 2016. Mark Peterson/Redux / Redux for NBC News file 
 
 Prior to the reporters' calls, Brzezinski said, the Enquirer had been phoning her teenage daughters and friends for comment on the story, citing her ex-husband as a source. Scarborough added that he'd encountered a man in a van outside her home, and believed the man was a reporter staking her out. 
 
 Scarborough and Brzezinski said they refused to make calls to Trump about the story. 
 
 But Trump tweeted after the segment that Scarborough actually had called him to spike the story, and he refused. 
 
 Watched low rated @Morning_Joe for first time in long time. FAKE NEWS. He called me to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no! Bad show — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017 
 
 Scarborough responded by calling Trump a liar. "I have texts from your top aides and phone records," Scarborough tweeted. 
 
 Yet another lie. I have texts from your top aides and phone records. Also, those records show I haven't spoken with you in many months. https://t.co/TZWiElo6Gs — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) June 30, 2017 
 
 The story ran in the Enquirer on June 2 with the headline, "Joe & Mike: TV Couple's Sleazy Cheating Scandal." 
 
 The Enquirer tweeted out the story after Friday's "Morning Joe" segment and said later on its website that it wasn't involved in any discussions between the White House and the television personalities. 
 
 Related: ‘Morning Joe’ Hosts Respond to Trump’s Tweets: ‘We’re OK. The Country’s Not’ 
 
 "At the beginning of June, we accurately reported a story that recounted the relationship between Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the truth of which is not in dispute," Dylan Howard, chief content officer at American Media, Inc., said in a statement. 
 
 "At no time did we threaten either Joe or Mika or their children in connection with our reporting on the story. We have no knowledge of any discussions between the White House and Joe and Mika about our story, and absolutely no involvement in those discussions," Howard said. 
 
 The spat is part of a pattern by Trump to undermine the media, which could be dangerous, said Marvin Kalb, a former reporter for NBC News, who researches the impact of media on public policy and politics at The Brookings Institution. 
 
 "The thing that is upsetting to a lot of people who care about the way this country works is the time the president puts into an argument with an anchorman or woman would better be spent on health care or foreign affairs or what it is that the president said during the campaign ─ that many middle-class people need help," Kalb said. "Well, help them. This is your opportunity." 
 
 Theodore Glasser, a communications professor at Stanford University, said it was "perfectly reasonable" for Scarborough and Brzezinski to harshly criticize Trump and for Trump to do the same to them, as long as it involves a discourse about issues, and an acknowledgment of the role of a free press in a democratic society. 
 
 "But that’s not what he's doing," Glasser said. "He’s being mean and spiteful." ||||| "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on Friday morning forcefully responded to President Donald Trump's Twitter attack, saying it was "amazing how many lies he packed into two tweets." 
 
 The pair postponed their vacation to appear live on their MSNBC show in the wake of his Thursday morning tirade that drew outrage from across the political spectrum. They said they received calls and texts from concerned friends and family, but stressed that the president's disparaging remarks aren't really about them. 
 
 "We had so many people saying, 'Hope you're OK.' 'Hope you're OK,'" Scarborough said. "We're OK. The country's not." 
 
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 Brzezinski said: "I think it's been fascinating and frightening and really sad for our country." 
 
 In the tweets, Trump used insulting names against the cable news hosts, but the comment that drew widespread condemnation was his claim that Brzezinski "was bleeding badly from a face-lift" when he saw her on New Year's Eve. 
 
 I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came.. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017 
 
 ...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017 
 
 Scarborough on Friday said the president has an "unhealthy obsession with Mika" and is "much more vicious with women." 
 
 "He appears to have a fragile, impetuous, childlike ego that we’ve seen over and over again, especially with women," Brzezinski added. 
 
 Scarborough and Brzezinski moderate a town hall during the presidential primaries with Trump in Charleston, South Carolina on Feb. 17, 2016. Mark Peterson / Redux for NBC News file 
 
 Before Trump tweeted Thursday morning, Scarborough and Brzezinski were on "Morning Joe" discussing reports that Time magazine had asked the Trump Organization to remove phony covers featuring him from several of his golf clubs. 
 
 "I thought it was hilarious ... I knew in real time that the president would be tweaked by that," Brzezinski said. 
 
 "It is unbelievably alarming that this president is so easily played by a cable news host," she added. 
 
 Trump tweeted a response about two hours after Brzezinski and Scarborough went on air Friday, saying he tuned in to the show, "for first time in long time." 
 
 Watched low rated @Morning_Joe for first time in long time. FAKE NEWS. He called me to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no! Bad show — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017 
 
 Scarborough then tweeted: "Yet another lie. I have texts from your top aides and phone records. Also, those records show I haven't spoken with you in many months." 
 
 Scarborough said on the show that the National Enquirer was working on a story about him and Brzezinski, but that the tabloid would "spike" the story if they apologized to the president for their coverage of him. 
 
 "Donald is friends with the guy who runs the National Enquirer," Scarborough said on the show. 
 
 "They were pinning the story on my ex-husband," Brzezinski added. "And I knew he would never do that. So I knew it was a lie and they had nothing." 
 
 National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard responded after the show that a story was reported in early June about Scarborough and Brzezinski's relationship, but that "at no time did we threaten either Joe or Mika or their children in connection with our reporting on the story. We have no knowledge of any discussions between the White House and Joe and Mika about our story, and absolutely no involvement in those discussions.” 
 
 In a Friday op-ed in The Washington Post, Scarborough and Brzezinski said they were concerned that Trump's "unmoored behavior" is going beyond personal attacks. 
 
 "America's leaders and allies are asking themselves yet again whether this man is fit to be president," they wrote. "We have our doubts, but we are both certain that the man is not mentally equipped to continue watching our show, 'Morning Joe.'" 
 
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 "The president's unhealthy obsession with our show has been in the public record for months, and we are seldom surprised by his posting nasty tweets about us," Scarborough and Brzezinski wrote, adding that they "believe it would be better for America and the rest of the world if he would keep his 60-inch-plus flat-screen TV tuned to 'Fox & Friends.'" 
 
 The pair said on "Morning Joe" that it was Trump, then-president-elect, who invited them to dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 30. Scarborough said Brzezinski opted not to go, but then she changed her mind after Trump asked Scarborough if she could visit the next day. 
 
 Brzezinski said they had a short meeting with Trump and the first lady that following night before quietly exiting. 
 
 "We were shuffled into a side room — it was actually a bedroom — talked for 20 minutes. We left through this party of people dressed to the nines," she said. 
 
 They also disputed Trump's claim about Brzezinski's face, writing in The Post that "Mika has never had a face-lift." Brzezinski said on "Morning Joe" that she had skin under her chin "tweaked." 
 
 Related: Trump’s Diatribes Against the Press Are Producing a Backlash 
 
 "He takes something small, he tries to weaponize it," Scarborough said. "This has been one of our great frustrations. He just ends up hurting himself." 
 
 Scarborough said he was alarmed when he got a call from a member of Congress who told him that Trump was speaking to about 20 lawmakers on the health care bill when the talk suddenly shifted to the "Morning Joe" hosts. 
 
 The congressman said the president mentioned how Brzezinski had been bleeding from an apparent face-lift and appeared in a rage, according to Scarborough. 
 
 "This congressman said, 'I don't even know why I'm calling you, but I was scared for you guys and wanted you to know,'" Scarborough said. 
 
 MSNBC issued a response Thursday as the comments sparked backlash from both sides of the aisle and reignited Trump's past remarks related to women that have been decried as sexist. 
 
 It’s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job. — MSNBCPR (@MSNBCPR) June 29, 2017 
 
 When asked about Trump's tweets, House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Thursday: "Obviously I don't see that as an appropriate comment." 
 
 Several members of Trump's own Republican Party tweeted messages denouncing the president's posts. 
 
 This is not okay. As a female in politics I am often criticized for my looks. We should be working to empower women. https://t.co/sV6WDE0EUD — Lynn Jenkins (@RepLynnJenkins) June 29, 2017 
 
 Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America. — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 29, 2017 
 
 Trump was a frequent guest on "Morning Joe" during the start of his 2016 presidential run. But his contentious relationship with the media has only grown since taking office earlier this year. He attacked CNN, The Post and The New York Times on Twitter earlier this week. 
 
 White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to the furor by saying that voters "knew what they were getting when they elected Donald Trump." She said Trump was defending himself against continuing personal attacks from the "liberal media." 
 
 "The president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by members on that program ('Morning Joe'), and I think he's been very clear that when he gets attacked he's going to hit back," Sanders said at a Thursday press briefing.
– More details about President Trump's alleged attempt to blackmail the hosts of Morning Joe are leaking out, including the reported involvement of his son-in-law. New York reports Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski found out in March the National Enquirer was planning to run a story about their affair, which had not yet been made public. Scarborough texted Jared Kushner about the story in April, and Kushner told him he needed to personally apologize to Trump for negative coverage in order to kill the story, according to sources close to the situation. Scarborough declined, and the Enquirer ran a story titled "Morning Joe Sleazy Cheating Scandal" in June. The Enquirer denies any knowledge of conversations between the White House and the Morning Joe hosts. In a tweet, Trump claimed Scarborough tried to get him to kill the story; Scarborough denies that. Scarborough also claims to have text and phone records from Trump aides proving his version of events, NBC News reports. Brzezinski also claims the Enquirer had been calling her teen daughters about the story. Trump is friends with the head of the tabloid—a relationship detailed in the New Yorker—and last August tweeted that he would "tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns!” Earlier this week, Trump falsely claimed Brzezinski had shown up at Mar-a-Lago "bleeding badly from a face-lift." Scarborough tells Vanity Fair that at the time an impressed Trump had relentlessly pestered Brzezinski for the name of her plastic surgeon.