US President Donald Trump has slammed his former aide, Omarosa Manigault Newman, after she released tapes of secretly recorded conversations she had while working at the White House.
The former Apprentice reality TV star who became a prominent African American in Mr Trump's administration, was fired from her position in December last year as Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for Public Liaison.
In February 2018, Ms Newman publicly criticised the Trump administration on the reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother, and stated that she would not vote for Trump again. But more recently, Ms Newman accused Mr Trump of using the "N-word" repeatedly while she worked at the White House.
In a tape allegedly recorded by Ms Newman played by NBC News' "Today" show on Monday, Mr Trump can be heard saying he didn't want the former aide to leave.
But since the tape was released, Mr Trump has lashed out at Ms Newman, calling her "wacky" and a "low-life". He also said she signed a non-disclosure agreement.
"Omarosa? Omarosa what's going on? I just saw on the news that you're thinking about leaving? What happened?" Mr Trump can be heard saying in the recording, appearing to have no idea why Ms Newman was dismissed by chief of staff General John Kelly.
"General Kelly came to me and said that you guys wanted me to leave," she responds, to which Mr Trump says, "Nobody even told me about it".
But in tweets since the tape was released, Mr Trump said his Chief of Staff told him Ms Newman was "a loser" and "nothing but problems". He also claims Ms Newman only had "GREAT" things to say about him until she was fired.
Ms Newman gives a scathing review on life in the White House in her new book Unhinged. She paints a picture of Mr Trump as a president who is often kept out of the loop when it comes to administration decisions, hence why he wasn't aware of her dismissal.
It's unknown at this stage if Ms Newman will face prosecution for making the recordings in the Situation Room, as staff are not permitted to being in cell phones or recording devices.
Ms Newman released a recording of General Kelly firing her in the room, where the president and other senior government officials meet to discuss foreign policy.
"The very idea a staff member would sneak a recording device into the White House Situation Room shows a blatant disregard for our national security," said the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders.
Mr Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Monday: "She was certainly violating national security regulations, which I think have the force of law."
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