Searing Donald Trump op-ed prompts wild guessing game on author's identity

Donald Trump, US President

An opinion piece in The New York Times by an anonymous senior administration official claiming to be part of a "resistance" working "from within" to thwart President Donald Trump's "worst inclinations" set off a wild guessing game inside and outside the White House on the author's identity.

Swift denials of involvement in the op-ed came from top administration officials, including the office of Vice President Mike Pence, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Mike Pence has denied involvement. Pics/AFP

Trump tweeted that "The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy - & they don't know what to do." On Wednesday, Trump tweeted a demand that if "the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!"

'Treason?'
Donald Trump responded with a one-word tweet to the damning op-ed by asking if the piece could be treasonous. "TREASON?" Trump tweeted, in response to the piece entitled "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration" and claiming the president's own staff see him as a danger to the nation.

Trump praises Kim
Donald Trump praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday for reportedly expressing faith in him. "Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims 'unwavering faith in President Trump.' Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!," Trump wrote on Twitter. Kim restated his commitment to denuclearising the Korean peninsula on Thursday.

'Trump seeking to replace Mattis'
Donald Trump is seeking to replace Defence Secretary Jim Mattis mainly because of the sharp differences between them, a report in The Washington Post has claimed. However, Trump said Mattis will remain in his job. Mattis has also denied the report.

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