Trump promotes book of ex-aide who was fired after saying the president thought his daughter Tiffany was overweight

Madeleine Westerhout served as US president’s personal secretary and as director of Oval Office Operations

Donald Trump has publicly supported a new memoir written by his former aide, Madeleine Westerhout, who was fired from the White House last year after being critical of the president’s daughters to journalists.

On Tuesday, the president tweeted: “Great new book by former director of Oval Office Operations, Madeleine Westerhout, entitled Off the Record.

“When I look at all of the fake books and garbage written about me, it’s really nice to see a very smart and already wise young woman write an honest depiction of what...went on at the White House during some extremely interesting and important times.”

He added: “So many good stories by someone who, unlike most other so called writers, was actually there, and a part of the action — of which there was plenty. Go buy this book, a job well done!”

Ms Westerhout served as Mr Trump’s personal secretary in the White House from 2017 to 2019, before she was promoted to director of Oval Office Operations in February last year.

However, she was asked to leave her role in August 2019 after she shared details about the president’s private life with the press, according to Politico.

They reported that prior to her resignation, Ms Westerhout had made several comments at an off-the-record dinner at his goff club in Bedminster, New Jersey, that was held with journalists covering Mr Trump’s holiday.

During the dinner, she allegedly told reporters that she had a better relationship with Mr Trump than his daughters Ivanka and Tiffany Trump did.

Ms Westerhout also claimed that Mr Trump did not like having his picture taken with Tiffany because he felt she was overweight, and added that he could not pick her out of a crowd.

A few days after Ms Westerhout resigned, the president called her comments “a little bit hurtful” and confirmed that she had been asked to leave her role for discussing his daughters with journalists.

Mr Trump also described Ms Westerhout as a “very good person,” and subsequently tweeted his support for her a week after she left her post at the White House.

He tweeted that she “has a fully enforceable confidentiality agreement, she is a very good person and I don’t think there would ever be reason to use it. She called me yesterday to apologise, had a bad night. I fully understood and forgave her! I love Tiffany, doing great!”

The president’s public support for Ms Westerhout’s memoir, that was published on Tuesday, came shortly after she discussed her firing during an appearance on Fox & Friends.

“So, you know what? I had a bad night. And a major lapse of judgment cost me my dream job. On a rare day off, after a couple of drinks by the pool, I accepted an invitation to an off-the-record dinner with four reporters and a White House colleague of mine,” Ms Westerhout said on Tuesday.

“And at that dinner, I said some things that I didn’t mean and that I never should have said,” she added. “And I deeply regret that, but I take full responsibility for my actions that night and really regret that I hurt people that I care about very, very much.”