Furious over critical tell-all book, Trump threatens to sue authors, media using anonymous sources

Outraged by a critical new tell-all book about him, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to sue authors and media outlets that use anonymous sources.

Taking to Truth Social Trump said, “As a President who is being given credit for having the Best Opening Month of any President in history, quite naturally, here come the Fake books and stories with the so-called “anonymous,” or “off the record,” quotes.”

He expressed his intent to potentially sue dishonest authors and publishers, as well as media outlets that utilise these anonymous sources, which he claims largely do not exist.

“At some point I am going to sue some of these dishonest authors and book publishers, or even media in general, to find out whether or not these “anonymous sources” even exist, which they largely do not. They are made up, defamatory fiction, and a significant price should be paid for this blatant dishonesty,” he said.

Trump said that taking such action could serve the country and possibly lead to the creation of new laws.

His latest move comes after the publication of a new expose by journalist Michael Wolff that has Trump and his team livid.

The book says that after surviving an assassination attempt last summer during the election campaign, Trump “seemed possibly on the verge of cracking,” unable to finish sentences and flying into rages that were stunning even for the famously thin-skinned former reality TV star.

The new book by Wolff - he had a bestseller that came out in 2018 called “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” - among other bombshell claims also quotes a Mar-a-Lago source as saying Trump’s wife Melania hates him.

The Trump White House is skirmishing early and often with the news media as the president presses relentlessly his hard-right agenda targeting immigrants and gutting the federal government through the free-wheeling work of billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser with an outsize role in Trump’s so far very busy second term.

On Tuesday, the administration broke decades of tradition by announcing that the White House itself would pick which media get close access to the president in confined quarters like the Oval Office as part of what is known as a press pool.

Until now an independent association of American media organisations covering the White House made this selection.

With inputs from agencies