Forget impeachment—the last thing Donald Trump wants is for Russian president Vladimir Putin to call off their bromance over a little thing like national security. On Saturday, a New York Times report detailed increasing U.S. efforts to infiltrate the Russian power grid, only for the president to spend the weekend tweeting about the paper’s “treasonous” endangerment of friendly relations with Russia.

“Do you believe that the Failing New York Times just did a story stating that the United States is substantially increasing Cyber Attacks on Russia. This is a virtual act of Treason by a once great paper so desperate for a story, any story,” Trump tweeted. “ALSO, NOT TRUE!” He continued to rant against the Times Sunday morning, tweeting, “A poll should be done on which is the more dishonest and deceitful newspaper, the Failing New York Times or the Amazon (lobbyist) Washington Post! They are both a disgrace to our Country, the Enemy of the People, but I just can’t seem to figure out which is worse?”

According to the Times, Trump may in fact have been deliberately kept in the dark as to anti-Russia efforts. The report, which cites multiple Pentagon and United States Cyber Security sources, claims “administration officials said they believed Mr. Trump had not been briefed in any detail” on the matter, as the Pentagon described “broad hesitation to go into detail with Mr. Trump about operations against Russia for concern over his reaction—and the possibility that he might countermand it or discuss it with foreign officials.” Per the Times, the U.S. has increased its efforts to place “potentially crippling malware” within control systems of the Russian electrical grid—both in retaliation for Russia’s own cyber-incursions into U.S. systems over the last few years, and to warn Putin against escalating cyber-strikes. As national security adviser John Bolton noted during a public appearance last week, the goal has largely been “to say to Russia, or anybody else that’s engaged in cyberoperations against us, ‘You will pay a price.’”

As ever, it is unclear what Trump is contesting about the Times report, given that National Security Council officials reportedly had “no national security concerns about the details of The New York Times’s reporting . . . perhaps an indication that some of the intrusions were intended to be noticed by the Russians.” Additionally, Trump’s own issue of National Security Presidential Memoranda 13 allows for Cyber Command to conduct offensive online operations without presidential approval or briefing.

However, the president has historically valued his friendly relationship with Putin over escalating tensions with Russia, cyber or otherwise. Increasing counter-measures against Russian incursion into the U.S. power grid are also seen as deterrent for potential Russian election meddling—another sore spot for Trump, who has at various points acknowledged Russia’s role in securing his 2016 election, and effectively signaled that further foreign interference would be welcome. More than anything, though, Trump seems intent on broadcasting to Putin that the U.S. and Russia are still simpatico. Putin, who last week said U.S.-Russia relations are “getting worse by the hour,” may well need convincing.