New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn has disclosed that at some points in recent months the publication has been publishing a new story about Donald Trump on average every half hour.

But responding to questions about whether Trump had been purposely overwhelming the news agenda, Kahn insisted journalists “have to face that reality” that what the US president does is always newsworthy.

Kahn was appearing on a panel at the third annual Sir Harry Evans Investigative Journalism Summit discussing whether publishers would “fight or fold” in its skirmishes with the president.