White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles provided an unexpected description of US President Donald Trump this week, likening his personality to that of an 'alcoholic's', and the commander in chief has issued a shocking response.
It's almost got to the point where nothing that happens in American politics is shocking anymore, yet there are still some moves and descriptions that can leave you stunned and take you by surprise.
One such of these came from a prominent member of the White House, with Susie Wiles – Trump's Chief of Staff – issuing an absurd description of the president's behavior and personality.
Speaking to Vanity Fair in a bombshell interview, Wiles asserted that the president has an "alcoholic's personality," illustrating that "high-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in generation, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink."
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This applies to Trump – despite the fact he's abstained from alcohol following the death of his brother in 1981 – because he "operates [with] a view that there's nothing he can't do."
The president has since responded to these claims in a new interview with the New York Post, offering a surprising response to the description that nobody was expecting.
Despite his attempts to seemingly start a fight with anyone, Trump came to Wiles defense, insinuating that her description wasn't far off the mark.
"No, she meant that I'm — you see, I don't drink alcohol. So everybody knows that — but I've often said that if I did, I'd have a very good chance of being an alcoholic," Trump revealed.
"I have said that many times about myself, I do. It's a very possessive personality. I've said that many times about myself. I'm fortunate I'm not a drinker. If I did, I could very well, because I've said that — what's the word? Not possessive — possessive and addictive type personality. Oh I've said it many times, many times before."
He did add that he hadn't read the full interview in Vanity Fair however, but asserted that Wiles had "done a fantastic job," adding that "from what I hear, the facts were wrong, and it was a very misguided interviewer, purposefully misguided."
He then continued to hammer down on this perspective, insisting that his Chief of Staff was 'deceived'. "He didn't have great access, a couple of very short interviews," Trump said of the interviewer, "and Susie generally doesn't do interviews."
The president proclaimed that "if anybody knows the interviewer, and if they know Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair is a totally — it's lost its way. It's also lost its readers, as you know. No she's fantastic."