Trump team worried about his fitness for office

Wolff said his account was drawn from interviews with those in close contact with the US president

WASHINGTON DC: The author of a bombshell book about Donald Trump's White House Friday defended his scathing portrayal of the US president and said "one hundred percent" of those around him questioned his fitness for office.

Michael Wolff, the author of "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" said he spent three hours with Trump during the presidential campaign and in the White House, rebutting Trump's claim he never spoke with the writer for the book.

Wolff said his account was drawn from interviews with those in close contact with Trump and all described him in the same terms.

"They all say he is like a child. And what they mean by that is he has a need for immediate gratification. It's all about him," Wolff told NBC's "Today" show.

"Let me put a marker in the sand here. One hundred percent of the people around him" question Trump's fitness for office, Wolff continued.



"They say he's a moron, idiot. Actually, there's a competition to sort of get to the bottom line here of who this man is. Let's remember, this man does not read. Does not listen. So he's like a pinball. Just shooting off the sides."

Trump's lawyer is demanding a halt to publication of the book, which goes on sale Friday, and the president insisted in a tweet he had granted Wolff "Zero access" to the White House and denied he ever spoke to him for the book.

I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist. Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018

"Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don't exist," the tweet said.

But Wolff confidently defended himself against attacks on his credibility.

"My credibility is being questioned by a man who has less credibility than, perhaps, anyone who has ever walked on earth at this point," Wolff said.

Wolff said he spoke with Trump about three hours during the presidential campaign and after he took office nearly a year ago.

"So my window into Donald Trump is pretty significant, but even more to the point... I spoke to people who spoke to the president on a daily, sometimes minute-by-minute basis," Wolff added, saying he had notes and recordings of the interviews.

"I am certainly absolutely in every way comfortable with everything I've reported in this book."