US President Donald Trump has contended that none of his underlings routinely defy his commands, despite numerous examples contained in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report showing aides ignoring or refusing his dictates.
"Nobody disobeys my orders," Trump said on Monday during a walkabout on the South Lawn for the annual Easter egg roll.
He was questioned by a CNN correspondent about whether he was worried some of his staff were shrugging off his requests, as depicted by Mueller, whose full redacted report was made public last week.
The document contained anecdotes of aides refusing to carry out some of Trump's demands to short-circuit Mueller's investigation. The trend was so marked the report's authors made note of it in their assessment.
"The President's efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests," the report said.
It painted a picture of aides repeatedly ignoring or brushing aside Trump's dictates -- both in the interest of guarding the President from his own worst instincts and of protecting themselves from further legal implications.
More From This Section
On Monday, Trump also proclaimed himself unconcerned about the prospects of impeachment proceedings, which some Democrats are now calling for in the wake of Mueller's report.
"Not even a little bit," he said when asked about impeachment worries.
--IANS
ksk