Trump calls former aide a 'dog'

President Donald Trump lashed out at his former "Apprentice" and White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman Tuesday in especially angry terms, slamming her as a "dog" and a "crazed, crying lowlife" as her tell-all book hit stores.

Newman's book, "Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House," hit bookstores and digital platforms on Tuesday.

Her book -- which paints Trump as a racist, liar and a "germophobe" with a "total lack of empathy" -- has plunged the White House and the president into fresh crisis, and her comments to the media have dominated US headlines for days.

Team Trump responded furiously, launching a campaign to discredit her and pursuing legal action against her for breaking an apparent non-disclosure agreement.

Trump had already branded "Omarosa" -- as she is commonly known in America -- a "lowlife" after she released a recording of her firing by chief of staff John Kelly, seemingly recorded in the White House Situation Room.

But on Tuesday, he ratcheted up the war of words -- to a level of nastiness rarely seen, even from a president who has shown he does not pull punches when insulting his critics.

"When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn't work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!" Trump tweeted.

The book and the recordings by the disgruntled 44-year-old Manigault Newman, once an ardent Trump ally, represents a stunning breach of presidential trust.

On Tuesday, she explained to CBS News why she made the recordings: "I'm the kind of person who covers her own back. In Trump World, everyone lies."

Just how much she documented of her time in the White House is now of keen interest to her former colleagues and, perhaps, to special counsel Robert Mueller.

Manigault Newman said she had already spoken to the man who is looking into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether Team Trump colluded with Moscow to tip the scales. She also says she is willing to do so again.