AFP, Washington :
President Donald Trump on Monday plunged himself into a made-for-TV spat with his former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman – a mud-slinging match that has fuelled fears of chaos in his White House and cast doubt on his pledge to hire “only the best people.”
Manigault Newman – who first gained fame as a contestant on Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice,” and then secured a $180,000-a-year staff job at the White House – released a recording of a private conversation she had with the president after she was fired. The recording by the disgruntled 44-year-old, once an ardent Trump ally, represents another stunning breach of presidential trust. It also came on the eve of the release of her tell-all book, “Unhinged.”
NBC’s “Today” program on Monday played the brief recording, in which Trump claims to have had no knowledge that she was sacked and expresses regret at the news.
That revelation sparked a stream of presidential invective on Twitter. “Wacky Omarosa, who got fired 3 times on the Apprentice, now got fired for the last time. She never made it, never will,” Trump said in a stream of angry tweets.
The Republican president claimed that Manigault Newman “already has a fully signed Non-Disclosure Agreement!” – a first admission that members of the administration were asked to sign potentially illegal hush deals. If such deals prohibit government staff from revealing all information they learn of at work, the American Civil Liberties Union said “they are unconstitutional and unenforceable.”
Manigault Newman’s recordings have also caused political problems for Trump, dominating American headlines for days – and she told NBC that there are “absolutely” more audio files.
The latest recording appears to show a president who has little knowledge of what is happening inside his own White House – or who is willing to lie to avoid confrontation. “Omarosa? Omarosa, what’s going on? I just saw on the news that you’re thinking about leaving? What happened?” he said, apparently unaware she had already been fired. “Nobody even told me about it,” Trump is heard saying, after chief of staff John Kelly terminated her employment.
“You know they run a big operation, but I didn’t know it,” he says, adding: “I didn’t know that. Goddamn it. I don’t love you leaving at all.”
Trump had already branded “Omarosa” – as she is commonly known in America – a “lowlife” after she released a recording of her firing by Kelly, seemingly recorded in the White House Situation Room.
President Donald Trump on Monday plunged himself into a made-for-TV spat with his former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman – a mud-slinging match that has fuelled fears of chaos in his White House and cast doubt on his pledge to hire “only the best people.”
Manigault Newman – who first gained fame as a contestant on Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice,” and then secured a $180,000-a-year staff job at the White House – released a recording of a private conversation she had with the president after she was fired. The recording by the disgruntled 44-year-old, once an ardent Trump ally, represents another stunning breach of presidential trust. It also came on the eve of the release of her tell-all book, “Unhinged.”
NBC’s “Today” program on Monday played the brief recording, in which Trump claims to have had no knowledge that she was sacked and expresses regret at the news.
That revelation sparked a stream of presidential invective on Twitter. “Wacky Omarosa, who got fired 3 times on the Apprentice, now got fired for the last time. She never made it, never will,” Trump said in a stream of angry tweets.
The Republican president claimed that Manigault Newman “already has a fully signed Non-Disclosure Agreement!” – a first admission that members of the administration were asked to sign potentially illegal hush deals. If such deals prohibit government staff from revealing all information they learn of at work, the American Civil Liberties Union said “they are unconstitutional and unenforceable.”
Manigault Newman’s recordings have also caused political problems for Trump, dominating American headlines for days – and she told NBC that there are “absolutely” more audio files.
The latest recording appears to show a president who has little knowledge of what is happening inside his own White House – or who is willing to lie to avoid confrontation. “Omarosa? Omarosa, what’s going on? I just saw on the news that you’re thinking about leaving? What happened?” he said, apparently unaware she had already been fired. “Nobody even told me about it,” Trump is heard saying, after chief of staff John Kelly terminated her employment.
“You know they run a big operation, but I didn’t know it,” he says, adding: “I didn’t know that. Goddamn it. I don’t love you leaving at all.”
Trump had already branded “Omarosa” – as she is commonly known in America – a “lowlife” after she released a recording of her firing by Kelly, seemingly recorded in the White House Situation Room.
