U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly in a ‘volcanic rage’ and has slammed the opinion piece in The New York Times which said there are officials in his administration working to protect the country from Trump himself. In a series of tweets, he demanded the publication to reveal the author's identity for national security purposes.

The anonymous author, claiming to be part of the "resistance" to Trump "working diligently from within" his administration, 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."

The president tweeted out the word "TREASON?" followed by: "I'm draining the Swamp, and the Swamp is trying to fight back. Don't worry, we will win!"

A Politico source said the White House was in “total meltdown.” And 24 hours since the publication of the op-ed, the White House is trying to figure out who the author is but is having little success so far.

White House officials did not respond to requests made by U.S. news media to elaborate on Trump's call for the writer to be turned over to the government or the unsupported national security ground of his demand.

However, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday criticized the “media’s wild obsession” with uncovering the identity of the “coward” who wrote the piece and said the inquiries were “recklessly tarnishing the reputation of thousands of great Americans” who work in the administration.

She then suggested that interested parties call the Times’ editorial desk and included its phone number. “They are the only ones complicit in this deceitful act,” she said.

Trump’s fury has also prodded his most senior cabinet members to come out with public denials of them being the ‘anonymous author’ of the New York Times piece. They have also reportedly submitted this in writing to the president himself. These include 20 senior officials such as Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pence, Defence Secretary James Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 07, 2018 03:32 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).