Updated Aug 14, 2018

Omarosa's feud with Trump: The latest tapes, threats and targets

Omarosa Manigualt-Newma, former Trump aide. Photo: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

Omarosa Manigault-Newman, the former Trump aide who dramatically ended her 11-month stint in the White House in December, has further escalated her feud with the Trump administration this week by releasing a second secret recording to the public, threatening to release more, and taking to the airwaves to tell her side of the story.

Between the lines: This apparent publicity stunt comes as Omarosa, whom President Trump called a "lowlife" and a "dog" on Twitter, has released her new book, "Unhinged," which includes several outrageous claims from her time in the West Wing.

The latest
  • Speaking with NBC News' Katy Tur on Tuesday, Omarosa claimed special counsel Robert Mueller's team had spoken to her regarding the ongoing probe into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
    • It's unclear when the alleged interview occurred, and sources close to the White House told ABC News that Mueller's team has never requested to speak with Omarosa during her 11-month stint at the White House.
  • White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Tuesday afternoon she "can't guarantee" that the president has never used the N-word, but said she has never heard him say it.
    • She went on to defend the president in explaining that calling Omarosa a "dog" did not have anything to do with race.
  • The Trump campaign filed an arbitration action against Omarosa citing a breach of her 2016 nondisclosure agreement.
The tapes she released
  • On Sunday, Omarosa released audio from a secret recording she made in December when she was being fired by Chief of Staff John Kelly in the White House's highly-secured Situation Room. The audio was first played during her appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.
  • Monday morning, NBC's "Today" aired an excerpt of a phone call Omarosa recorded between her and President Trump, who expressed surprise and disappointment that she got ousted from the White House. In the call, which she says came a day after she was fired, Trump said “nobody even told me about it.”
  • On Tuesday, "CBS This Morning" aired another Omarosa recording which featured Trump campaign officials discussing how to deal with any hypothetical fallout if a tape of Trump using the N-word were to be released.
Other tapes she claims to have
  • Politico reports the former "Apprentice" star has also recorded private phone calls with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, advisers to the president. Citing two sources who claim to have discussed the recording with Omarosa, the report says that Trump and Kushner wished her well and said they were unaware of plans to fire her.
  • The Washington Post and the Guardian, which have received advanced copies of her new book, report that Omarosa also claims to have tapes of Trump — whom Omarosa called a "racist" — saying the "N-word."
"It had finally sunk in that the person I’d thought I’d known so well for so long was actually a racist. Using the N-word was not just the way he talks but, more disturbing, it was how he thought of me and African Americans as a whole."
— Excerpt from "Unhinged"
  • In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Omarosa says she has "plenty" of other tapes. Asked if she would share the recordings with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Omarosa responded: "If his office calls again, anything they want, I'll share.” Note that her comment implies Mueller's team has already contacted her.
Juiciest claims from her book
  • Omarosa says Trump used racial slurs in reference to Kellyanne Conway's half-Filipino husband, George Conway, calling him a "F**ing FLIP! Disloyal! Fucking Goo-goo."
  • She writes that Trump asked her about her decision to go to Haiti: "Why did you choose that shitty country as your first foreign trip?" Trump reportedly referred to Haiti and a few other nations as "shithole countries" in January this year.
  • She claims the White House has a tanning bed, although the Post reports that other White House aides said they have not seen it.
  • She says she once walked in on Trump chewing up a piece of paper and seemingly swallowing it in the Oval Office.

Be smart: "She's out-Trumping Trump right now," a former senior administration official told Axios' Jonathan Swan.

Go deeper:

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the latest developments.

Go deeper

Axios
Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET: 18,187,396 — Total deaths: 691,352 — Total recoveries — 10,841,436 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET: 4,711,323 — Total deaths: 155,379 — Total recoveries: 1,513,446 — Total tests: 57,543,852 — Map.
  3. Politics: White House will require staff to undergo randomized coronavirus testing — Pelosi says Birx "enabled" Trump on misinformation.
  4. Sports: 13 members of St. Louis Cardinals test positive, prompting MLB to cancel Tigers series — Former FDA chief says MLB outbreaks should be warning sign for schools.
  5. 1 🎥 thing: "Tenet" may be the first major film to get a global pandemic release.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Rebecca Falconer
Updated 3 hours ago - Energy & Environment

In photos: Thousands evacuated as Southern California fire grows

A plane makes a retardant drop on a ridge at the Apple Fire north of Banning in Riverside County, which "doubled in size" Saturday, per KTLA. Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A massive wildfire that prompted mandatory evacuations in Southern California over the weekend burned 26,450 acres and was 5% contained by Monday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

The big picture: As California remains an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., some 15 separate fires are raging across the state. About 7,800 people were under evacuation orders from the Apple Fire, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, as hundreds of firefighters battled the blaze. CalFire said Monday that a malfunction involving a "diesel-fueled vehicle emitting burning carbon from the exhaust system" started the Apple Fire.

See photos (<1 min. read)Arrow
Orion Rummler
4 hours ago - Technology

Twitter faces FTC fine of up to $250 million over alleged privacy violations

Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket

The Federal Trade Commission has accused Twitter of using phone numbers and emails from its users to make targeted ads between 2013 and 2019, Twitter said in an SEC filing published Monday.

Why it matters: Twitter estimates that the FTC's draft complaint, which was sent a few days after its Q2 earnings report, could cost the company between $150 million and $250 million. The complaint is unrelated to the recent Twitter hack involving a bitcoin scam.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow