Trump wants Department of Justice to investigate source of anonymous New York Times op-ed

'I don’t mind criticism. I handle it. I fight back, I guess you’ve noticed over the years'

Donald Trump has said he wants the Department of Justice to discover which government official wrote an anonymous op-ed article criticising his administration – claiming the issue had become a matter of national security.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One as he flew to Fargo, North Dakota, the president said he was considering taking action against the New York Times, which published the article, though he did not provide further details. He also said the White House was trying to identify the writer of the piece.

Asked if attorney general Jeff Sessions should investigate the matter, Mr Trump said: “I think so. It’s national security. I would say Jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it’s national security.”

The Associated Press said it was all but unthinkable the DoJ would carry out an investigation into the article, given that while it was critical of Mr Trump and his presidency, it did not appear to contain any classified material.

However, the issue will become another major test for the 71-year-old Mr Sessions, who has faced constant criticism from the president since he took the position. Mr Trump frequently attacks Mr Sessions for having allowed Robert Mueller’s independent investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, go ahead.

Mr Trump’s comments to reporters, which were apparently initially intended to be off the record before being cleared to be used, came two days after Washington was rocked by the latest claims about dysfunction and chaos within the White House.

A government official, described as a senior Trump administration official, wrote in an article for the newspaper that there was a group of people inside the government who were acting as a “resistance” to Mr Trump’s worst intentions and impulses.

“To be clear, ours is not the popular “resistance” of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous,” it said. “But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.”

It added: “That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.”

The White House is standing by for further revelations and accusations about the administration, that are contained in veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book, Fear: Trump in the White House, which is due to be published next week. Excerpts from what is said to be a deeply researched tome, have already painted a “crazytown” environment where few of the president most senior officials have respect for him.

Asked about the op-ed and the decision by the newspaper to publish it anonymously, Mr Trump said believed it was “a disgrace” that somebody was able to do that.

“I think it’s more disgraceful that the New York Times would do it. That somebody is allowed to do that is very sad commentary,” he said.

“Just in watching this morning briefly, so many people that never said a good thing about me are now saying that should never happen. They’ve actually gone to my side. I think it’s reverberating in a very different way.”

He added: “I don’t mind criticism. I handle it. I fight back, I guess you’ve noticed over the years.”

Since the publication of the article, Washington had been gripped by a frenzied guessing game as officials, journalists and members of the public try to determine who wrote it. More than 20 senior member of the government, among the the vice president and secretary of state, felt obliged to issue official denials that they were the author.

Mr Trump said he did not believe it was someone very senior, “because everybody very high up has already said it wasn’t me”. Asked what be doe to the author if they were uncovered, Mr Trump replied: “We’re going to take a look at what he had, what he gave, what he’s talking about, also where he is right now.

“Supposing I have a high level national security, and he has got a clearance, we talked about clearances a lot recently, and he goes into a high level meeting concerning China or Russia or North Korea or something. I don’t want him in those meetings.”

The president also denied the claims contained in Mr Woodward’s book. “Woodward’s book is a total fraud. It’s a total fraud,” he said.

He added: “I don’t talk that way. You people know me. I don’t talk that way. I can’t get up and talk in front of a crowd, many times without notes, for an hour and 25 minutes and get the biggest crowds in the history of politics, cause this is not, like what you saw last night, that place was packed, you’re in Billings, all over the country, you don’t see an empty seat.”

Following Mr Trump’s comments, the Times issued a statement saying it was confident the Justice Department “would not participate in such a blatant abuse of government power”.

It added: “The president’s threats both underscore why we must safeguard the identity of the writer of this op-ed and serve as a reminder of the importance of a free and independent press to American democracy.”