US facing 'genuine constitutional crisis': John Kerry

Amid the turmoil in the Donald Trump administration since the revelations in Bob Woodward's book, followed by a berating op-ed in the New York Times, former Secretary of State, John Kerry on Thursday said that the US is facing "a genuine constitutional crisis."

"We have a presidency which is off the rails. We have a President who is not capable of doing the job, who clearly has these temper tantrums, doesn't know enough to be making many of the decisions he makes," Kerry was quoted by CNN as saying.

In the New York Times op-ed, an anonymous senior Trump administration official has blasted the US President for his "amorality" and his imprudent decision making, while saying that he/she was part of the "resistance" working against an impulsive Trump and his agenda.

Veteran journalist Bob Woodward's forthcoming book titled, "Fear: Donald Trump in the White House," which made headlines around the world after excerpts were released by the Washington Post on Tuesday, gives an in-depth peek into the "crazytown" White House under Trump.

"We see the evidence of people stealing a presidential document off his desk. We see a general, the secretary of defence, ordered to kill another leader, a leader of another country, who turns to everybody after the phone is hung up and says, 'I'm not gonna do that. We're not gonna do that,'" Kerry said, making references to Kerry's book.

Trump responded to the book on Wednesday by saying, "The book is fiction."

He took to Twitter to tear into the anonymous New York Times op-ed, saying, "Does the so-called "Senior Administration Official" really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!"

Also, a number of officials in the White House have denied authoring the op-ed and have defended Trump in the wake of the furore. Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Defence Secretary James Mattis are among the top officials to have denied authoring the op-ed.

Kerry slammed the Republicans defending Trump saying that it "unbelievable" that the senators were defending Trump instead of "the Constitution."

"Not the institution of the Senate, they're defending party and the President, who simply doesn't know what he's doing," Kerry said.