Washington: President Donald Trump said he believes former President Barack Obama is behind the leaks within his administration. He also blamed Mr Obama for the angry town hall crowds Republicans are facing across the US.
During an interview on Fox News, Mr Trump said: “You never know what's exactly happening behind the scenes. You know, you’re probably right or possibly right, but you never know.”
In the interview, a clip of which was released on Tuesday, he said: “I think that President Obama is behind it because his people are certainly behind it. And some of the leaks possibly come from that group, which are really serious because they are very bad in terms of national security. But I also understand that is politics. In terms of him being behind things, that’s politics. And it will probably continue.”
Mr Trump did not provide any evidence for his statement. During the interview he gave himself an ‘A’ for his presidency so far but said he would only give himself a C for communicating how great he has been, the New York Times reported. “I think I’ve done great things, but I don’t think I have — I and my people — I don’t think we’ve explained it well enough to the American public,” he said. “I think I get an A in terms of what I’ve actually done, but in terms of messaging, I’d give myself a C or a C-plus.”
He acknowledged that he does not have the support of a majority of Americans in polls, but he said those who do back him are more intense. “The love is great,” he said. “And I saw a poll where I was at 45 or 46 percent, but one of the things they said is that the level of enthusiasm for me is as strong as they’ve ever seen.”
He also criticised his press secretary, Sean Spicer and said it was wrong of him to bring a group of staff members into his office and inspect their telephones. He added: “I would have handled it differently than Sean. But Sean handles it his way, and I’m O.K. with it.”
