US President Donald Trump has praised his own mental state and described himself as a "very stable genius." The comments come as a response to the 'Fire and Fury' book, which portrayed him as intellectually limited.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/A. Brandon
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US President Donald Trump said he was "like, really smart" in a series of tweets on Saturday morning, commenting on the rumors of his mental health and intellectual capacity bolstered by the new "Fire and Fury" book on his presidency.
Trump also drew a parallel between himself and the popular former president Ronald Reagan, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, six years after leaving power.
In a Twitter post, Trump said the "Fake News Mainstream Media" were using the same playbook by "screaming mental stability and intelligence."
"Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart," he wrote.
"I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star […] to President of the United States (on my first try)," said Trump, who followed in his father's footsteps as a real estate developer before starting a career in reality television.
"I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!" he wrote.
While Trump claims that the 2016 campaign was his "first try" at running for president, he briefly pursued the nomination for a minor Reform party in 2000 before dropping out.
Trump's tweets come a day after Michael Wolff's book "Fire and Fury," an account on the first year of the Trump presidency, went on sale. According to the book, many of Trump's closest allies described him as an "idiot," childlike, and unfit for office.
'Fire and Fury': A look inside Donald Trump's White House
Even before publication, a new book by American journalist Michael Wolff has triggered anger in Washington. Based on interviews with high-ranking officials and Trump himself, it offers a rare view into the White House.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
'Fire and Fury'
Excerpts published by US and British news outlets from American journalist Michael Wolff's new book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" about US President Donald Trump's administration have offered a look into the inner workings of the White House. From finding comfort in McDonald's hamburgers to Ivanka's presidential dreams, here are some excerpts from the book.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Camp
'Melania was in tears'
"Shortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night, when the unexpected trend – Trump might actually win – seemed confirmed, Don Jr. told a friend that his father, or DJT, as he calls him, looked as if he had seen a ghost. Melania was in tears – and not of joy. There was, in the space of little more than an hour ... a befuddled Trump morphing into a disbelieving Trump and then into a horrified Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/V. Mayo
Ivanka Trump the 'first woman president'?
"Balancing risk against reward, both Jared (Kushner) and Ivanka decided to accept roles in the West Wing over the advice of almost everyone they knew ... Between themselves, the two had made an earnest deal: If sometime in the future the opportunity arose, she'd be the one to run for president. The first woman president, Ivanka entertained, would not be Hillary Clinton; it would be Ivanka Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/M. Sohn
Finding comfort in fast food
"He had a longtime fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's – nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely pre-made."
Image: Instagram
Bannon's theories
"The real enemy, (Bannon) said, was China. China was the first front in a new Cold War. China's everything. Nothing else matters. We don't get China right, we don't get anything right. This whole thing is very simple. China is where Nazi Germany was in 1929 to 1930. The Chinese, like the Germans, are the most rational people in the world, until they're not."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
Bannon: Donald Jr. was 'treasonous'
"(Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort) thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor – with no lawyers … Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately," Bannon said.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/C. Kaster
'Losing was winning'
"Once he lost, Trump would be both insanely famous and a martyr to Crooked Hillary. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared would be international celebrities. Steve Bannon would become the de facto head of the tea-party movement ... Melania Trump, who had been assured by her husband that he wouldn't become president, could return to inconspicuously lunching. Losing was winning."
Several months ago, US media reported that State Secretary Rex Tillerson referred to Trump as a "moron." Tillerson refused to outright deny the reports, although a State Department spokeswoman rejected the rumors as untrue.
Trump also said it never took place, although he added that if Tillerson "did that, I guess we'll have to compare IQ tests. I can tell you who's going to win."
In an unrelated 2013 tweet, Trump also described his IQ as "one of the highest."
The "Fire and Fury" author Michael Wolff also claimed that president Trump was repeating himself increasingly often, in what could be construed as a sign of mental infirmity.
"It used to be inside of 30 minutes he'd repeat, word-for-word and expression-for-expression, the same three stories — now it was within 10 minutes," Wolff said in a column published by Hollywood Reporter.
The US journalist also claimed that the 71-year-old Trump "failed to recognize a succession of old friends" in the closing days of 2017.
