Fired aide said great things about me, claims president
DONALD TRUMP has claimed he kept a former White House aide, who has launched a scathing attack on the US president ahead of a tell-all book, on his staff because she said “great things” about him – despite the fact she failed to do her job.
He said Omarosa Manigault Newman was “hated” by other White House staff and would “constantly miss” work and meetings.
Writing on Twitter yesterday, Mr Trump said he directed John Kelly, his chief of staff, to try to smooth things over with her “because she only said GREAT things about me – until she got fired!”.
The comments come after Ms Manigault Newman, once the president’s most senior African American aide, claimed he used racial slurs and was not in control of staffing decisions.
Ms Manigault Newman, who is promoting her new book about her time in the White House, has caused fury in the Trump administration after releasing a secret recording she made of her firing by Mr Kelly in the high-security White House situation room. Yesterday, she released a second secret tape that she made of Mr Trump calling her the day after she was sacked. In the tape, Mr Trump claims he was unaware she had been let go, telling her: “I don’t love you leaving at all.”
Ms Manigault Newman was previously known for being a contestant on the US television series The Apprentice, which Mr Trump hosted, and went on to be his communications aide.
However, in recent days she has said that during her time in the administration she was “complicit” in hiding Mr Trump’s “mental decline” from the public. The White House has pushed back on the former aide’s criticisms, saying the recordings raise questions about her integrity and “a blatant disregard for our national security”.
Ms Manigault Newman told the US network MSNBC: “It’s sad that with all the things going on in the country that he would take time out to insult me and to insult my intelligence.”
After referring to her as “wacky”, Mr Trump added: “I know it’s not ‘presidential’ to take on a low-life like Omarosa, and while I would rather not be doing so, this is a modern day form of communication.”