President slams ‘weak’ libel laws

President Donald Trump has bemoaned his country’s “very weak” libel laws, saying he is “like, really smart”.

Mr Trump’s defence of his mental fitness in a series of tweets, following unflattering coverage in a new book, was a singular episode in a presidency rife with moments unlike any that have come before in that office.

He was criticising Fire And Fury: Inside The Trump White House, which paints him as a leader who does not understand the weight of his office and whose competence is questioned by aides.

When Mr Trump addressed reporters at the weekend, the Ivy League graduate was ready for the question.

“I went to the best colleges for college,” said Mr 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.”

His ire was directed at author Michael Wolff, whose book draws a derogatory portrait of the 45th president as an undisciplined man-child who did not actually want to win the White House and who spends his evenings eating cheeseburgers in bed, watching TV and talking on the telephone to old friends.

“I consider it a work of fiction. The libel laws are very weak in this country,” said Mr Trump.