Trump Says Attorney General Sessions Should Investigate "New York Times": NPR

President Trump was seen asking Friday when he thought that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should investigate The New York Times column attributed to an administration official who wrote that Trump is unfit for office.

Yes, said Trump.

"I think so," he told reporters. "It's national security, I would say that Jeff should investigate the author of this play because I really believe it's national security."

Trump spoke in front of the camera aboard the Air Force One en route from Montana to North Dakota. He is still angry and frustrated about the editorial, according to the pool report, calling it "shameful" that someone write it and "maybe even from the point of view of national security, we will know it. "

After these comments, a reporter asked a question about Sessions, and Trump said he thought the Attorney General should investigate. Trump was then asked if measures should be taken against the Time.

"I'm looking at this now," said the president. As for the author of the chronicle, whose identity and sex remain anonymous, Mr. Trump said: "We will examine what he had, what he gave , what he's talking about, and also where he's currently located. "

The Justice Department was questioned about Trump's comments on Friday and told NPR that it did not confirm or deny the investigations.

It was unclear what actions might result from comments from the president or from further research by the administration to find the author of the column. Sometimes trump badgers sessions on not doing the work that he considers to be the most important, and the relationship between men seems to have been largely broken.

Trump says he's having buyer's remorse about the appointment of the sessions because the Attorney General has challenged the investigation conducted in Russia by the Department of Justice. Sessions swears that as long as he will run the department, he will be safe from political pressures.

The Mueller interview

Trump also told reporters that he was not ruling out an interview with the Justice Department's special adviser, Robert Mueller, who is investigating the Russian attack on the 2016 elections.

"If we meet, it must be a fair meeting," said Trump. "I would, but in certain circumstances."

Trump repeated denials that his campaign had conspired with the Russian attack or that he could have broken the law by trying to thwart the subsequent investigation.

Trump pointed to reports on Bob Woodward's forthcoming book – which Trump partly dismissed as "nonsense" – and said that even Woodward "could not find anything collusive in that rude big book with all the lies . "

Woodward's account – like that of the Time op-ed – portrays a Trump administration filled with staff members working around the president or actively suppressing his impulses to protect him from damage.

One of the biggest characters in the book is John Dowd, Trump's personal attorney, described as pleading with Trump not to interview Mueller investigators.

Trump has so much trouble telling the truth, says Dowd – according to Woodward – that even if they agree that he did not do anything wrong, the president will probably contradict himself or tell a lie during discussions with investigators from the Department of Justice.

Trump's reluctance to agree to give Mueller a solid "no" led Dowd to resign, according to Woodward, and the president maintained this opening on Friday.