Trump takes a page from his Russia playbook to privately dismiss concerns over his mental health

In private, Donald Tump approaches questions about his mental fitness in much the same way as he describes the Russia investigation, that is, dismisses them as “a joke” and “an invented fact,” the Washington Post reports.

Trump over the weekend publicly addressed concerns about his intelligence—tweeting, among other things, that he’s “like, very smart”—after questions about his mental state reached a fever pitch during last week’s media maelstrom surrounding the release of the new book Fire and Fury. But to aides, the Post reports Trump “privately resents” the news coverage surrounding his mental health and fitness.

“The White House perspective is outrage and disgust that people who do not know this President or understand the true depth of his intellectual capabilities would be so filled with hate they would resort to something so far outside the realm of reality or decency,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote in a statement.

Trump’s reaction to concerns over his mental state mirror his approach to another crisis marring his administration: special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Trump has repeatedly dismissed the Russia investigation as “a hoax” and “the single greatest witch hunt in American political history.”