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Anonymous Trump official behind tell-all book plans to reveal identity: 'There is more to come'

White House insider paints unsettling picture of president and his inner circle

Alex Woodward
New York
Wednesday 27 November 2019 14:48 EST
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Donald Trump calls anonymous NY Times op-ed 'gutless'

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The anonymous author of a tell-all book revealing the inner workings of Donald Trump's White House says they won't keep their identity "shrouded in secrecy forever".

In a Reddit Ask Me Anything session, or AMA, the author said they're "not afraid" to use their own name "to express concern about the current occupant of the Oval Office".

"Donald Trump has not heard the last of me," the author said. "There is more to come. Other people who are currently serving, and who have left, are also considering adding their voices before votes are cast in 2020. We talk about this with some regularity. In the meantime, Trump must answer to the American people for his own conduct instead of redirecting their attention."

Twelve Books, the publisher of A Warning, confirmed the identity of the AMA participant.

The author said they concealed their identity to deprive Mr Trump of "his favourite weapon of mass distraction — personal attacks — and force the discussion to centre on the substance, his character".

"The President has mercilessly attacked honourable public servants, from an anonymous whistleblower to aides on his own National Security Council" amid Mr Trump's impeachment hearings, the author said.

"He can't win on ideas, just on mud-slinging and personal attacks," they added. "So he's trying to use the long arm of government to unmask and undermine his critics."

The author claims to be a senior administration official offering an "unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of the Trump presidency", according to the publisher.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham has called the author a "coward" and said their claims are a "work of fiction".

A Warning follows the author's September 2017 column in the New York Times titled "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration."

In that column, the author claims the "root of the problem" inside the White House is the president's "amorality".

"Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making," the author said.

"From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief's comments and actions," they write. "Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims. ... Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back."

A Warning was published on 19 November.

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