Bombshell book claims Putin is directly feeding Trump's delusions of a 'deep state fighting against our friendship'

The Washington Post has printed an excerpt of reporter Greg Miller's new book -- called "The Apprentice: Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy" -- and it contains some shocking new revelations about the relationship between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Miller's reporting, Putin regularly feeds Trump's paranoia about a secret "deep state" that is preventing him from achieving his goals of forming a lasting alliance with Russia.

"In phone conversations with Trump, Putin would whisper conspiratorially, telling the U.S. president that it wasn’t their fault that they could not consummate the relationship that each had sought," reveals Miller. "Instead, Putin sought to reinforce Trump’s belief that he was being undermined by a secret government cabal, a bureaucratic 'deep state.'"

White House aides also tell Miller that Putin once told Trump to be wary of "the subordinates fighting against our friendship."

The book also reveals that White House aides -- including chief of staff John Kelly -- had to scramble to convince Trump to sign off on expelling Russian diplomats after Russian agents allegedly poisoned Sergei Skripal and his daughter on British soil.

According to Miller's sources, "Trump worried that Putin would see him as the aggressor and accused aides of misleading him."