Trump denies book’s charge that he is unfit to lead
US president criticizes ‘work of fiction’ and claims he is ‘very stable genius’
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected an author’s accusations that he is “mentally unfit for office” and said his business career and election victory showed he is “a very stable genius”.
In a series of tweets, Trump added that he is “like, really smart” in the latest pushback against a new book that portrays him as a leader “who doesn’t understand the weight of his office and whose competence is questioned by aides”.
The book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, draws a derogatory portrait of the 45th president as an undisciplined man-child who didn’t actually want to win the White House, and who spends his evenings eating cheeseburgers in bed, watching television and talking on the telephone to old friends.
“Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart,” Trump tweeted from Camp David.
He said his journey from “VERY successful businessman,” to reality TV star to president on his first try “would qualify as not smart, but genius .... and a very stable genius at that!”
And when Trump addressed reporters later, the Ivy League graduate was ready for the question.
“I went to the best colleges for college,” said Trump, who holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. “I had a situation where I was a very excellent student, came out, made billions and billions of dollars, became one of the top business people, went to television and for 10 years was a tremendous success, as you probably have heard, ran for president one time and won.”
The book also quotes Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and other prominent advisers as questioning the president’s competence.
“I consider it a work of fiction,” Trump told reporters, then bemoaned the country’s “very weak” libel laws.
“I think it’s a disgrace,” he said.
Access question
Trump said he never granted Michael Wolff — author of the book — an interview for the book and blamed former adviser Steve Bannon, for granting Wolff access at the White House. Wolff has said he spoke to Trump but that the president may not have known he was being interviewed.
The tweets were another sign of Trump’s frustration at what he views as unfair treatment by the news media of his presidency amid a federal investigation into whether he or his campaign aides colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, in which he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, who has tried to bring order to a chaotic White House, said he had not seen the tweets until reporters showed them to him just before Trump spoke about noon.
But he said that Trump didn’t appear angry on Friday or Saturday. “I thought he would be, frankly,” Kelly said.
Chatter about Trump’s mental competence for office has intensified in recent months on cable news shows and among Democrats in Congress.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders this week called such suggestions “disgraceful and laughable”.
Trump is to undergo the first physical examination of his presidency on Jan 12. The exam was announced on Dec 7 after questions arose about Trump’s health when he slurred part of a speech announcing that the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
This exam does not typically involve having the president undergo a mental health evaluation, as some Democrats have urged.
White House officials and Trump supporters have launched an effort to raise doubts about Wolff ’s credibility.