Like my colleagues in the Cabinet and on the National Security Council, I have very open access to the president. He does not shut out his advisers, and he does not demand that everyone agree with him. I can talk to him most any time, and I frequently do. If I disagree with something and believe it is important enough to raise with the president, I do it. And he listens. Sometimes he changes course, sometimes he doesn’t. That’s the way the system should work. And the American people should be comfortable knowing that’s the way the system does work in this administration.<doc-sep>What the 25th amendment could mean for Trump (CNN) — Aides to President Donald Trump believe they have the search for the anonymous author of the New York Times op-ed that shook the political world down to a few individuals, a source close to the White House told CNN on Friday. Trump is still “obsessed” with finding the person, though he is being counseled by White House chief of staff John Kelly to let it pass, to avoid bringing more attention to the claims in the op-ed. The opinion piece was written by an anonymous senior administration official alleging an internal resistance to the President in his own administration. CNN is not aware of the identity of the individuals White House aides have zeroed in on. In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Trump believes the individual is someone from the national security sector of the government. The op-ed published Wednesday afternoon, just a day after excerpts from veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, “Fear: Trump in the White House,” were published. The book passages published in The Washington Post and by CNN showed a White House consumed by chaos and disarray, including stories of aides insulting Trump behind his back and going so far as to steal documents off his desk in order to keep him from signing them. The anonymous writer of the op-ed said the resistance inside Trump’s administration is not the same as the resistance from the political left. The author wrote that the resistance inside the government wants “the administration to succeed … 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.” “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 author also wrote that the “root of the problem is the President’s amorality” and assails Trump’s “reckless decisions,” “erratic behavior” and what the official describes as the President’s “impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective” leadership style. More than 25 high-ranking Trump administration officials have come out publicly denying having penned the op-ed, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Defense Secretary James Mattis. Following the op-ed’s release, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted: “The media’s wild obsession with the identity of the anonymous coward is recklessly tarnishing the reputation of thousands of great Americans who proudly serve our country and work for President Trump. Stop.” CNN previously reported that White House aides were struggling Thursday morning to get ahead of the op-ed as the Cabinet and other top officials were releasing their own statements, according to an administration official. The official said the White House “wanted a more coordinated response.” “Didn’t seem very organized,” the official said, describing the process. Before a campaign rally Thursday night, Trump said the New York Times’ decision to publish the op-ed could be called “treason.” He’s also slammed the op-ed as “gutless” and the person who wrote it as “really a disgrace.” On Friday, Trump said he wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate and uncover the identity of the individual who authored the opinion piece. “Yeah, I would say Jeff should be investigating who the author of this piece was because I really believe it’s national security,” Trump told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One. Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores previously declined to comment on the matter, saying “we do not confirm or deny investigations.” Trump is also fuming that White House deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine has mishandled the messaging on the Woodward book. The President believes the rapid response to the book has been handled poorly and he blames Shine for that. Trump is telling allies, “We should get Hope back here,” referring to former White House communications director Hope Hicks. This story has been updated. CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi, Jeff Zeleny, Sophie Tatum, Jeremy Diamond and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.<doc-sep>In the wake of an explosive New York Times anonymous op-ed, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling on President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the Constitution’s 25th Amendment and remove him from office. On Wednesday the Times published an op-ed titled “I am part of the resistance inside the Trump administration.” The piece, written by an unnamed senior official at the White House, claimed the President was “amoral,” “anti-democratic” and that much of senior officials’ job is to work against the President’s agenda. One of the most shocking claims in the piece was that, at one point, members of his cabinet reportedly considered invoking the 25th Amendment but decided against it to avoid a “constitutional crisis.” The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, is meant to be a failsafe to handle when a President is unable to fulfill the duties of the office for reasons besides injury or death. According to the Constitution, under the Amendment, if the Vice President and a majority of “principle officers” agree that the President is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.” The Times op-ed has shocked many and confirmed suspicions for some that Trump is unfit to lead. Senator Warren, for one, came out on Thursday to push for the President’s cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment if they actually believe that Trump is unable to adequately fulfill the responsibilities of his office. She shared on social media and her website a call for the Cabinet to use the Amendment if it saw fit. “Every minute they make excuses is a minute that our country is at risk.” Warren said. “If senior officials believe the president is unfit, they should stop hiding behind anonymous op-eds and leaking information to Bob Woodward boasting that they’re trying to save our country, and instead do what the Constitution demands they do: invoke the 25th Amendment and remove this president from office.” Warren posted on her website. Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Write to Gina Martinez at gina.martinez@time.com.<doc-sep>
Donald Trump appeared to have difficulty pronouncing the word ‘anonymous’ at a campaign rally this week. Speaking to supporters in Montana, the US President attempted to say the word twice as he ranted about the New York Times opinion piece which openly slammed his presidency. The article was supposedly written by a senior official and declared that were people ‘working diligently from within’ to frustrate Trump’s presidency. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video ‘The latest active resistance is the op-ed published in the failing New York Times by an anonymous, really, an anonymous, gutless coward,’ Trump said at the rally on Thursday, September 6. But as the president attempted to say anonymous the word came out sounding more like ‘anon-mous’ on both occasions. The mishap quickly provoked a huge reaction on social media, with some mistaking him for saying the word ‘enormous’ or ‘ominous’. The New York Times published the anonymous opinion piece about Trump’s presidency on September 5. US President Donald Trump failed to pronounce the word ‘anonymous’ as he spoke at a rally in Montana The writer, claiming to be part of the ‘resistance’ to Trump but not from the left, said: ‘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.’ They then continued: ‘It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. Capitol riot probe commission blocked from being created by Republicans ‘We fully recognise what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.’ The president responded by saying it was a ‘gutless editorial’ and ‘really a disgrace’, with his press secretary calling on the official to resign. Trump ranted about the New York Times opinion piece that was published on September 5 Trump later tweeted, ‘TREASON?’ and in an extraordinary move demanded that if ‘the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!’ The Montana rally isn’t the first time one of Trump’s speeches has drawn attention after he failed to get his words out correctly in December last year. The president appeared to slur quite aggressively while announcing plans to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Amazon mocked for AmaZen mental health 'cry closets' set up on factory floor It was most noticeable at the end of his speech when he appeared to say: ‘God bless the United Shhhhtates.’ The speech sparked speculation from some viewers about the state of the President’s health, but the White House played down its significance, stating that Trump had had a dry throat. Pressed on whether people should be concerned about Trump’s health, White House spokesman Raj Shah then added: ‘I know what you’re getting at. I’m saying there’s nothing to it.’