Last Updated Aug 13, 2018 12:35 PM EDT
President Trump took to Twitter Monday morning to tear into fired top White House aide and former “Apprentice” show contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman. The criticism comes amid her claims that she has secret recordings of West Wing conversations — including a conversation inside the Situation Room.
The president also said he realize it’s “‘not presidential'” to slam her on Twitter, but said Twitter is a modern form of communication, and he knows the media will do everything possible to make her look legitimate. The president also claimed the former reality TV star has signed a non-disclosure agreement, although he didn’t elaborate on that.
Mr. Trump is the one who brought her on to the West Wing, where she earned $179,700 a year, according to White House records.
Manigault Newman, who was dramatically fired from the West Wing last year by chief of staff John Kelly, claims she has a recording of the conversation of Kelly attempting to fire her, as well a recordings of conversations with the president. She appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” which played portions of the conversation she said she had with Kelly and was taped inside the Situation Room. It was unclear how Manigault Newman, if her story is true, managed to get a cell phone into the Situation Room. She also released what she claims to be audio of a conversation with the president in December 2017, played on NBC News’ “Today,” in which he seemed to express surprise that she had been fired from the White House.
Mr. Trump hit back at the former “Apprentice” contestant’s claims on Monday, saying she “begged” him for a job, in tears.
“Wacky Omarosa, who got fired 3 times on the Apprentice, now got fired for the last time,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “She never made it, never will. She begged me for a job, tears in her eyes, I said Ok. People in the White House hated her. She was vicious, but not smart. I would rarely see her but heard….really bad things. Nasty to people & would constantly miss meetings & work. When Gen. Kelly came on board he told me she was a loser & nothing but problems. I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me – until she got fired!”
“While I know it’s “not presidential” to take on a lowlife like Omarosa, and while I would rather not be doing so, this is a modern day form of communication and I know the Fake News Media will be working overtime to make even Wacky Omarosa look legitimate as possible. Sorry!” the president added in another tweet shortly thereafter.
The White House has condemned the former “Apprentice” star previously, and the Republican National Committee blasted her on Twitter over the weekend.
Mr. Trump suggested she has signed an NDA, something top White House official Kellyanne Conway alluded to on Sunday.
A former White House official told CBS News Manigault Newman has been a problem since before she officially went off the White House payroll in January. She had personal access to the president, and could just call him, the official said — and could not be kept from a job, despite the efforts of many.
In the past, Mr. Trump has praised the former reality TV star on Twitter in the past, even with a sense of seeming admiration for her flair for drama.
“@OMAROSA is smart and strategic. People should cut her some slack and respect the way she works on @ApprenticeNBC,” Mr. Trump tweeted in 2013 when she was a contestant on the “Apprentice.”
“I am very proud of my friend @OMAROSA. Despite her recent loss,she gracefully performs in the upcoming All-Star @ApprenticeNBC,” Mr. Trump tweeted also in 2013.
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