The De Lôme Letter, which set off an 1898 diplomatic incident, was written by Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish Minister with the Portfolio of Cuba. In a personal letter, which was stolen despite being under diplomatic protection, he referred to the President William McKinley as "weak and catering to the rabble and, besides, a low politician who desires to leave a door open to himself and to stand well with the jingos of his party." On February 9, 1898, the letter was published in William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. One week later, the USS Maine sunk in Havana Harbor. Both helped stir public sentiment in favor of the Cuban Junta and against the Spanish and are seen as two of the principal triggers of the Spanish-American War of 1898.