Trump wanted to tap phones of White House aides he suspected of leaking secrets: ex-staffer

Former President Donald Trump wanted to tap the phones of White House aides he suspected of leaking information to the press, a former Trump administration official has claimed in a new book.

Miles Taylor, who served as the Department of Homeland Security’s chief of staff under Trump, says in his book "Blowback" that Trump wanted “to pursue leakers by tapping phones” at some point in 2018, The Independent reported.

The idea was rejected by then-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who told Trump he'd be breaking the law if the plan was implemented.

Responding to the book's claim, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung called Taylor a "loser and a lying sack of s---."

Under Trump, Taylor was the chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security. In 2018, he penned a piece for the New York Times under the pseudonym Anonymous that was titled "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration."

His new book, due to be published this week, has made several bombshell claims, including that Trump fantasized about sex with his daughter, Ivanka, and that officials were terrified that he might trigger a nuclear attack from North Korea.