Trump's 'dog' slur adds fuel to explosive Omarosa row

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The spat between US President Donald Trump and former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman hit a fresh low on Tuesday with the president labeling the one-time aide a "crazed, crying lowlife" and a "dog."

Manigault Newman is a longstanding associate of Trump, having been a controversial contestant on his Apprentice reality TV show. She has written a tell-all book about her time in the White House, where she was hired by the president as a special adviser on a salary of 180,000 US dollars.

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The book, which paints Trump as a racist, liar and a "germophobe" with a "total lack of empathy," according to AFP, has dominated the news cycle in recent days.

The president's attack on Manigault Newman, who is African-American, followed her claim that she had heard a long-rumored tape of Trump using the "N-word."

She has offered no evidence, however, and her credibility with the American public is partly shaped by her performance on The Apprentice – she became a household name as the reality show's "villain."

Omarosa Manigault Newman attends an "Apprentice" afterparty in New York, December 16, 2004. /VCG Photo

Trump on Tuesday strongly denied having used the racial slur, tweeting "I do not have that word in my vocabulary, and never have."

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders later raised eyebrows by saying she "can't guarantee" the president had never used the racial epithet.

Trump recorded 14 series of The Apprentice with NBC over 11 years, and there have long been claims – denied by the president – that outtakes exist which feature the then TV host using offensive language.

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Manigault Newman released secretly recorded audio on Monday which the 44-year-old claims features her and two campaign aides discussing in 2016 how to deal with the fallout of a possible tape in which Trump uses a racial slur.

"He’s said it,” adviser Katrina Pierson says on the recording, “He’s embarrassed.” Pierson had previously denied such a conversation took place, and on Tuesday she and Lynne Patton, the other adviser on the tape, said Manigault Newman's interpretation of the tape was inaccurate.

The book "Unhinged" by former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman on sale in New York, US, August 14, 2018. /Reuters Photo

As part of the promotion for her "Unhinged" memoir, Manigault Newman has also released recordings of her firing from the White House by Chief of Staff John Kelly and of a subsequent phone call with Trump in which the president claims not to have known she had left her job.

Manigault Newman says she has further tapes, and also told MSNBC that Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion during the 2016 presidential campaign, had been in contact with her.

Omarosa Manigault Newman (C) is seated behind Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 19, 2016. /VCG Photo

Politico reported that Manigault Newman's secret recordings have sparked fear in the White House. "People are terrified,” one former Trump aide said of the tapes. “Absolutely terrified.”

The Trump campaign on Tuesday launched legal action against Manigault Newman, alleging she had breached a non-disclosure agreement signed during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Newman responded on MSNBC: “It’s interesting that he’s trying to silence me. So what is he trying to hide? What is he afraid of? If he hadn’t said anything that was derogatory or demeaning to African Americans and women, why would he go to this extent to try to shut me down?”

The "dog" slur has added to claims that the US president uses racially coded messaging – he has questioned the intelligence of high-profile African-Americans including NBA star LeBron James, CNN host Don Lemon and Representative Maxine Waters in recent weeks, and chose to reopen his criticisms of black NFL players on the eve of the white nationalist Charlottesville rally anniversary last weekend.