WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump expressed surprise upon finding out that his former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman was fired on an audio tape she released during an interview on Monday.
Trump is heard on the tape, which aired on NBC News, saying that he just learned Manigualt Newman was thinking of leaving the White House.
Manigault Newman responded, “[Chief of Staff] General [John] Kelly just came to me and said that you guys wanted me to leave.”
Trump then said, “No. Nobody even told me about it… I don’t love you leaving at all.”
On Sunday, Manigualt Newman played a recording of Kelly firing her in the Situation Room of the White House during an appearance on NBC News.White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement calling Manigault Newman’s actions “blatant disregard for our national security” because staffers are not allowed to bring recording devices in the secure Situation Room.
These recordings are being released ahead of Manigault Newman’s memoir “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House,” which will be in stores on Tuesday. In the book, Manigault Newman calls Trump a “racist, misogynist and bigot.”
READ MORE: Trump Calls Former Aide Manigault-Newman ‘Lowlife’ Ahead of Memoir Release
Manigault Newman appeared in Trump’s TV show The Apprentice in 2004, on Celebrity Apprentice in 2008, and All-Star Celebrity Apprentice in 2013.
She joined the Trump campaign in July of 2016 and continued working for Trump in the White House until January of 2018.