An administration official said White House aides were struggling this morning to get ahead of the anonymous New York Times op-ed, as various cabinet and other top officials were releasing their own statements throughout the day.

The official said the White House "wanted a more coordinated response" to the op-ed.

Instead, there were statements coming from a slew of top officials at all hours of the morning even as the press secretary was posting a tweet attacking the New York Times.

"Didn't seem very organized," is how the official described the process.