Pushing back against explosive reports about his own administration conspiring against him, US President Donald Trump lashed out against the anonymous senior official who wrote a New York Times opinion piece claiming to be part of a "resistance" working "from within" to thwart his most dangerous impulses.

Perhaps as striking as the essay was the recognition of the long list of administration officials who plausibly could have been its author. Many have privately shared some of the same concerns expressed about the president with colleagues, friends and reporters.

Washington was consumed by a wild guessing game as to the identity of the writer, and swift denials of involvement in the op-ed came Thursday from top administration officials, including from vice president Mike Pence's office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, and other cabinet members.

Trump was furious, tweeting Thursday morning that "The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy - & they don't know what to do."

On Wednesday night, Trump tweeted a demand that if "the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for national security purposes, turn him/her over to the government at once!" White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called on the "coward" who wrote the piece to "do the right thing and resign."

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request 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.

The assertions in the column were largely in line with complaints about Trump's behavior that have repeatedly been raised by various administration officials, often speaking on the condition of anonymity. And they were published a day after the release of details from an explosive new book by longtime journalist Bob Woodward that laid bare concerns among the highest echelon of Trump aides about the president's judgment.

Who's the writer?

The text of the op-ed was pulled apart for clues: The writer is identified as an "administration official;" does that mean a person who works outside the White House? The references to Russia and the late Sen. John McCain-do they suggest someone working in national security? Does the writing style sound like someone who worked at a think tank? In a tweet, the Times used the pronoun "he" to refer to the writer; does that rule out all women?

The newspaper later said the tweet referring to "he" had been "drafted by someone who is not aware of the author's identity, including the gender, so the use of 'he' was an error."

Pompeo, who was in India, denied writing the anonymous opinion piece, saying, "It's not mine." He accused the media of trying to undermine the Trump administration and said he found that "incredibly disturbing."

Dan Coats, director of National Intelligence later issued his own denial, followed by Defense Secretary James Mattis, Housing Secretary Ben Carson, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, budget director Mick Mulvaney and others; and with several prominent administration members delivering on-the-record denials, the focus could now fall on other senior aides to do the same, with questions raised about those who stay silent.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tried to head off reporters' inquiries of Trump officials, tweeting that the questions should be aimed at The New York Times, which she said was "complicit in this deceitful act." Trump, appearing at an unrelated event Wednesday at the White House, lashed out at the Times for publishing the op-ed.

The 25th Amendment 

The writer alleged, "there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment" because of the "instability" witnessed in the president.

The 25th Amendment allows the vice president to take over if the commander-in-chief is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." It requires that the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet back relieving the president.

The anonymous author also wrote in the Times that where Trump has had successes, they have come "despite not because of the president's leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective."

The writer added Trump aides are aware of the president's faults and "many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations. I would know. I am one of them."