“Julie Davis and Mike Shear took a leave from The Times to report ‘Border Wars,’” the Times spokesperson wrote. "Their reporting for the book, like all reporting, was subject to conditions agreed to with their sources. When they could, they shared newsworthy and imminent information with The Times for its continuing coverage of immigration. This news was best suited for the book excerpt.”

Trump, who sat for an interview with Davis and Shear over the summer, ripped the book on Wednesday with a familiar “fake news” jab. Davis noted that the authors brought detailed accounts of what they were reporting to the White House in advance of publication and that pushback Wednesday from the deputy press secretary was “not a denial” of the facts.

It’s not uncommon for reporters to provide behind-the-scenes anecdotes in books published months after the end of political campaigns or major news events. But the Times story drew more criticism because of the nature of the revelations and potential for harm if the president’s suggestion to shoot migrants had been carried out.

Newsrooms have long grappled with how reporters juggle beat reporting and book projects, though the issue is especially pronounced these days at the Times. Vanity Fair reported in May that around two dozen journalists, including many covering especially newsy beats, had landed book deals.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for how Times editors handle books. The Sunday Business section ran an excerpt of Mike Isaac’s book on Uber, “Super Pumped,” while Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s follow-up on their reporting on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, “She Said,” was covered as a news story.

The Times came under fire last month for its handling of revelations from Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly’s book on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, including a new allegation of sexual misconduct. The paper faced criticism for running Pogrebin and Kelly’s piece in Sunday Review, an opinion section, and for omitting a key factual detail, which led to an editor’s note.

President Donald Trump seized on the editor’s note to attack the book as “fake news” and called for the resignation of everyone at the Times involved in the “smear” story.

