White House closing in on op-ed author

WASHINGTON : Aides of US President Donald Trump have narrowed the search for the anonymous author of a damning op-ed article down to a few people, media reports said.

Trump himself said he can identify up to five people who could have written the New York Times opinion piece criticising his leadership and speaking of a “quiet resistance”.

But he declined to name names when asked during an interview on Friday with North Dakota TV station KVLY. “I could think of four or five, mostly people that either I don’t like or don’t respect,” Trump said when asked for his opinion on the identity of the senior official who NYT said wrote the piece.

The individual’s identity will eventually become public, he said, claiming that the issue is “reverberating in the opposite direction.” People think it’s “disgusting” that the Times would publish such a piece, he said.

CNN reported that Trump is still “obsessed” with finding the author, though he is being counselled by White House chief of staff John Kelly to let it pass to avoid bringing more attention to the claims in the op-ed.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has told CNN that Trump believes the individual is someone from the national security sector of the government. The network said it was not aware of the identity of the individuals White House aides have zeroed in on.

A White House official said Trump’s comment about wanting the justice department to investigate the author didn’t amount to an order to federal prosecutors. Trump has said attorney general Jeff Sessions “should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it’s national security.”