They allegedly met with the op writer, didn't the NYTimes op-editorial board claim this verification of the source?
Note, this was not the News part of the NYTimes, not even the editorial board of the NYTimes, but the Op-Ed, editorial board... the NYTimes news division is trying to trace down who the anonymous op ed person is....

just nuts!
My guess is either-
Trump had one of his own people plant this editorial so he could use it to promote his "deep State" theory and get everyone off of the Woodward Book. He used all Democratic talking points... way too obviously.... and claiming to be the Resistance, using the Democratic term, while going on to say he believes in ALL of the RIGHT leaning policies like Tax Cuts, and deregulation, and the border wall etc...
And the Resistance
believes in NONE of those things! So it's bull crud put in to an op, that makes absolutely NO SENSE at ALL.... other than trying to give a hint that it is someone related to a Democratic party movement....? It's just so obvious that the New York Times would not be the author/authors.... they would know better....
Trump, well, he's another story and has poor judgement on what Americans that are not Trumpians would see through, or he simply doesn't care...cuz all he wants is division and his Trumpians on his side....
all to support his deep state theory, get off of talking about Woodward's book.
Seriously, there was NO SANE REASON for Anonymous Ed to put this op Ed in to the paper NOW, right at the time of the Woodward book, not anonymous, but with tapes and a gazillion sources, NAMED....
EXCEPT to detract from the Woodward Book.
and for goodness sake, ANYONE THAT HAS WATCHED TRUMP, the past two years, let alone be a hire up whitehouse official, would KNOW this op Ed would throw president Trump in to a hissy fit and "Reality TV" episode of "Who done it?".... give good reason for him to fire a bunch of people, make his base believe in a deep state, make them believe that the New York Times was FAKE NEWS.....
an awful lot of BENEFITS for the President!
And the truth of the matter, after some thought, trying to get the president out of office through the 25th is fruitless.... he's always been bat shit crazy, even when you elected him so there would be no reason to use the 25th Amendmnt now....
Use Impeachment, otherwise, they would lose, using the 25th.
The whole thing smells of a set up, to the advantage, to the benefit of the President.
-My second option but less likely, and truly, unlikely, is a real Republican inside the whitehouse that is trying to help Republicans in the senate and the house get some votes from the real conservatives that were never trumpers.... trying to make them think they can take care of the madness in the white house and STILL get everything they wanted, such as tax cuts, deregulation, etc.