Donald Trump stepped up attacks against an official who wrote anonymously in The New York Times that the cabinet had considered trying to remove him from office, accusing the author of being part of the “deep state” that was trying to undermine his presidency.
“The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy — & they don’t know what to do,” Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday in response to the opinion piece published by the NYT the previous day. He earlier said that: “I’m draining the Swamp, and the Swamp is trying to fight back.”
Washington was abuzz with speculation about the author, particularly because of the assumption that the NYT would only have let the official remain unnamed if they held a genuinely senior role. Just hours after the piece was published, Mr Trump tweeted “TREASON?” amid reports that he had ordered his staff to identify the writer.