Trump claims he knows anonymous administration official's identity, but 'I can't tell you'

President Trump’s search for that anonymous senior administration official has come to an end, or so he claims.

Trump on Tuesday told reporters he now knows the identity of the administration official who in 2018 authored a New York Times op-ed describing a «resistance» inside the administration and later wrote the book A Warning.

«I know who it is,» Trump said.

Asked who it is, Trump responded, «I can’t tell you that, but I know who it is. But we won’t get into it.»

This comes after Axios reported that administration officials are discussing reassigning Victoria Coates, deputy national security adviser, amid a whisper campaign that she is the anonymous official, an accusation both she and a literary agent behind A Warning have denied. The Daily Beast also recently reported that Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has been «conducting his own private investigation into the identity of Anonymous» and has «zeroed in on at least one likely suspect.»

Trump on Tuesday also claimed he knows «who some of the leakers are» because «when I want to get something out to the press, I tell certain people, and it’s amazing, it gets out there.»

Whether Trump ends up outing the anonymous official, we’ll know their identity sooner or later, as the person during a Reddit Ask Me Anything last year vowed to come forward before November. «Trump will hear from me, in my own name, before the 2020 election,» they wrote.

Q: «Is there a search underway for Anonymous?

President Trump: «Yeah there is. It’s not so much a search.»

Q: «Who do you think it is?

President Trump: «I know who it is.» pic.twitter.com/HsPvRb4GCO

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 18, 2020