Anonymous Top Trump Official: There Have Been Talks of Removing the President

In a bombshell op-ed Wednesday afternoon, an anonymous essay that The New York Times says came from a senior Trump administration official states that administration officials had discussed removing Donald Trump from office earlier in his presidency. “Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the Cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment,” the official wrote in the piece titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” The author clarified that this did not mean he or she were secretly left-wing. “There is a quiet resistance within the administration of people choosing to put country first,” the official wrote. The author highlighted Trump’s criticism of the media and predilection for other countries’ dictators as aspects of his presidency that top officials tried to push back against. They writer also said Trump’s erratic behavior is kept under control by “unsung heroes” in the White House. “There are adults in the room,” the author wrote, and added that Trump’s accomplishments happened in spite of his “impetuous, adversarial, petty, and ineffective” leadership style. The Times prefaced the piece on its website by explaining that “publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers.” The Times also clarified that it knows who the official is.