Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod on Monday said the Trump administration is taking part in "pay to play" practices by opposing a World Health Assembly resolution to promote breastfeeding. 
 
 "This is the ultimate 'pay to play' that we're seeing from the Trump administration on something like breastfeeding," Elrod, who served as the director of strategic communications for Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonDershowitz on MSNBC panel: 'Don't you dare accuse me' of defending Trump Trump decries Mueller probe as an 'illegal Scam' Gary Johnson eyeing Senate bid MORE, told Hill TV's Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on "Rising." 
 
 "There are so many countries where they don't have access to anything but a mother's breast milk, which is the only way your baby's going to get nutrition," she continued. 
 
 "We know that the trade association that represents ... infant formula manufacturers is behind this," she said. 
 
 "Anytime that you think anything has happened in the Trump administration that can't get any more extreme or crazier, something like this happens." 
 
 Elrod's comments come after reports surfaced on Sunday that the U.S. turned to threats at the World Health Assembly in an effort to kill the resolution. 
 
 The $70 billion baby formula industry is centered in the U.S. and Europe and has experienced decreased sales as more women turn to breastfeeding. 
 
 The New York Times reported that the U.S. threatened to punish Ecuador, which planned to introduce the measure, by cutting military aid and implementing trade measures if it did not drop the resolution. 
 
 The Hill has reached out to the State Department for comment. 
 
 The Department of Health and Human Services denied to the Times it was involved in threatening Ecuador. 
 
 HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said the opposition to the measure promoting breastfeeding was not based on an "anti-breastfeeding" stance. 
 
 “Recent reporting attempts to portray the U.S. position at the recent World Health Assembly as ‘anti-breastfeeding’ are patently false," Oakley said in a statement. "The United States has a long history of supporting mothers and breastfeeding around the world and is the largest bilateral donor of such foreign assistance programs. The issues being debated, were not about whether one supports breastfeeding." 
 
 — Julia Manchester ||||| According to a New York Times report, the administration tried to deep-six a resolution at the World Health Assembly to encourage breastfeeding. It warned smaller nations such as Ecuador that it would face trade sanctions and withdrawal of military aid if it introduced the pro-breastfeeding resolution. Countries succumbed one by one to U.S. intimidation until Russia intervened to stop the bullying, and the resolution finally passed. Even then, U.S. negotiators pulled language that would have urged the World Health Organization to support countries seeking to improve infant nutrition. ||||| President Trump Donald John TrumpYemeni-American man kills himself after family blocked from entering US by Trump admin Dershowitz on MSNBC panel: 'Don't you dare accuse me' of defending Trump Bannon slams Kochs: 'What they have to do is shut up and get with the program' MORE on Monday blasted a New York Times report detailing a U.S. effort to quash a World Health Assembly (WHA) measure promoting breastfeeding, insisting that the U.S. supports the practice but did not want to limit access to breast milk substitutes. 
 
 "The failing NY Times Fake News story today about breast feeding must be called out," Trump tweeted. "The U.S. strongly supports breast feeding but we don’t believe women should be denied access to formula. Many women need this option because of malnutrition and poverty." 
 
 The failing NY Times Fake News story today about breast feeding must be called out. The U.S. strongly supports breast feeding but we don’t believe women should be denied access to formula. Many women need this option because of malnutrition and poverty. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2018 
 
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 The Times reported Sunday that U.S. officials turned to threats in an effort to throw cold water on a WHA resolution holding that breastfeeding is the healthiest option for young children and pushes countries to limit the spread of inaccurate information about breast milk substitutes. 
 
 The measure was expected to be introduced by Ecuador. But the U.S. reportedly threatened the country with punitive trade measures and a cut to military aid if it did not drop the proposal. 
 
 Health advocates sought to find another sponsor for the resolution, the Times reported, and Russia eventually introduced the measure without threats from the U.S. 
 
 A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the lead agency in negotiations on the resolution, defended the U.S. opposition to the measure, saying that it would impede women's access to vital baby formula when breastfeeding is not an option. 
 
 "The United States was fighting to protect women’s abilities to make the best choices for the nutrition of their babies. Many women are not able to breastfeed for a variety of reasons, these women should not be stigmatized; they should be equally supported with information and access to alternatives for the health of themselves and their babies," Caitlin Oakley said in a statement to The Hill. 
 
 Maggie Haberman, a White House reporter for the Times, noted in a tweet on Monday that after calling the newspaper's report false, Trump confirmed its central premise: that his administration opposed the resolution. 
 
 He claims the story is false and then backs it up https://t.co/uNMgsXDiOX — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 9, 2018 
 
 The baby formula industry, which is dominated by U.S. and European companies, has seen stagnant sales in wealthy countries in recent years as breastfeeding becomes more common. Their sales have increased, however, in developing countries. ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the U.S. opposed a resolution to encourage breastfeeding because it called for limits on the promotion of products like infant formula. 
 
 In a tweet Monday, Trump criticizes The New York Times for reporting that U.S. officials sought to remove language that urged governments to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, along with language calling on policymakers to limit the promotion of food products, such as infant formula, that can be harmful to young children. 
 
 The Times said the U.S. effort during the U.N.-affiliated World Health Assembly was largely unsuccessful, and that most of the original wording remained. 
 
 Trump said "the U.S. strongly supports breast feeding but we don't believe women should be denied access to formula. Many women need this option because of malnutrition and poverty."
– President Trump on Monday addressed the recent New York Times report that the US used threats in an attempt to block a WHO resolution promoting breastfeeding, insisting the US was only opposed to the fact that the resolution called for limits on promoting infant formula, the AP reports. "The failing NY Times Fake News story today about breast feeding must be called out," Trump tweeted. "The U.S. strongly supports breast feeding but we don’t believe women should be denied access to formula. Many women need this option because of malnutrition and poverty." Times reporter Maggie Haberman, however, pointed out on Twitter that the president's tweet did confirm the US had opposed the resolution: "He claims the story is false and then backs it up." And Politico notes that the resolution did not bar the use of formula, just aimed to limit misleading information about it. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the lead agency involved in negotiations on the resolution, offered a take similar to Trump's in a statement to the Hill. "The United States was fighting to protect women’s abilities to make the best choices for the nutrition of their babies," says a spokesperson. "Many women are not able to breastfeed for a variety of reasons, these women should not be stigmatized; they should be equally supported with information and access to alternatives for the health of themselves and their babies." As for what's behind all this, in an opinion piece at the Los Angeles Times David Dayen writes, "There’s a $70-billion, deeply concentrated global industry in baby formula substitutes, which relies on misinformation and ignorance to peddle its product to the world." "We know that the trade association that represents ... infant formula manufacturers is behind this," a Democratic strategist told Hill TV Monday.