Donald Trump's "false statements" pose "real and potentially profound dangers to US national security", according to America's former National Security Adviser.
Susan Rice said the President was und ermining trust in the US by taking a “vacation from veracity”.
In a strongly worded op-ed published in The Washington Post, Ms Rice – who has served as both a National Security Adviser to former President Barack Obama and a US ambassador to the United Nations – said recent “false statements“ about wiretapping were part of “a disturbing pattern of behaviour that poses real and potentially profound dangers to US national security”.
She wrote: “Many Americans, not just the broader world, recoil in anxiety and confusion when a US administration fosters counterfactual assertions and projects unpredictability. When the American people question the commander in chief’s statements, his ability to harness public support to confront a national crisis is undermined."
Mr Trump took to Twitter to claim that his predecessor, Barack Obama had "wiretapped" Trump Tower in the lead up to the presidential election.
Senior members of Mr Trump's Republican Party have since called on him to apologise for making the allegation.
Ms Rice said enemies of the US were “more prone to miscalculate” if they doubted the word of the President.
She wrote: "Is Russia certain we will defend every NATO ally at all costs? Does China think we want a trade war or stable economic relations? Does Kim Jong Un fear we may use force pre-emptively to counter his nuclear and missile capabilities? The United States' words matter."
