US President Donald Trump has hit back at claims he is not mentally fit to hold office, calling himself "a very stable genius".
Earlier today, Trump was accused of being "intellectually incapable" of holding office, with most senior White House staff coming to the conclusion he "can't function in this job as president", according to the author of a controversial new book.
Published yesterday, Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, concluded the president is not fit to do the job.
But Trump took to social media this lunchtime, saying: "My two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart… I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius….and a very stable genius at that!"
….Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018
….to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius….and a very stable genius at that!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018
Read more: Trump says Bannon "lost his mind" after he was fired
Transformation
Wolff had earlier told the BBC that senior staff initially were open-minded to Trump's administration, believing they should respect the will of the American public.
However, a "transformation" of opinion took place, he said.
"Over this period I witnessed, over this seven or eight months, they [White House staff] all came to the conclusion gradually at first and then faster and faster that something was unbelievably amiss here. That this was more peculiar than they ever imagined it could be.
"And in the end, they had to look at Donald Trump and say: 'No, this man can't function in this job as president.'"
I think he is intellectually incapable of being president of the United States. He doesn't read. He doesn't listen. He's profoundly incurious. He is just interested in what he is interested in and isn't interested in the larger problems of the world.
Is he experiencing issues fundamentally – physical, mental issues? I can't answer that but I can only say it is a subject discussed in the White House. It is subject of concern because his repetitions have become so much more frequent that it is that people find themselves around him saying: 'Oh my god, what are we going to do'.
Trump has blasted the book, which queries his mental state, as "full of lies" and brandished Wolff "a total loser".
Read more: Trump tells North Korean leader his nuclear button is "much bigger"
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