THE former White House aide behind an explosive new book about Donald Trump claims the President wants to see a “race war”.

Omarosa Manigault-Newman told Trevor Noah’s The Daily Show she had a “blind spot” when it came to Mr Trump after appearing on his reality show, The Apprentice.

But she said he was a “great disappointment” and she now looked like “the biggest dummy” for her loyalty.

“I did have this blind spot, and I was blindly loyal, and I looked like the biggest dummy following this person,” she said.

“And sometimes you have to step back in order to get a clear view. And I recognised that I was going down the wrong path with Trump.”

Discussing the differences between their views, Ms Manigault-Newman said: “One, I want to see this nation united as opposed to divided. I don’t want to see a race war as Donald Trump does.”

Ms Manigault-Newman, who met Mr Trump when she appeared as a contestant on his show in 2003, said his proclivity for racial division was evident “when you see at every single opportunity he insults African-Americans”.

She noted Mr Trump’s recent criticism of NBA player LeBron James and California Democrat Maxine Waters.

Mr Trump recently tweeted that it took the “dumbest man on television” — African-American CNN anchor Don Lemon — to make LeBron James “look smart,” and regularly refers to Ms Waters as having a “low IQ”.

“He wants to divide this nation,” said Ms Manigault-Newman during the publicity tour for her book, Unhinged, in which she portrays Mr Trump as racist and misogynistic.

“He wants to pit his base against successful African-Americans,” she said. “He uses his rallies to really encourage people to bring down African-Americans. That is truly evidence that this man is not trying to unite us. But he is specifically trying to divide us.”

Hours after Mr Trump’s campaign announced it was filing an arbitration action against her, alleging violations of a secrecy agreement she signed, she told the Associated Press: “I will not be intimidated … I’m not going to be bullied by Donald Trump.”

She maintained she “will not be silenced” by her former boss.

It comes after it emerged White House advisers and wife Melania advised the President not to publicly react to her shock allegations, including that she had heard a tape of him using the n-word.

But Mr Trump could not stop himself stoking the fire by calling her a low-life and tweeting that she was “wacky” and a “dog”.

The former Apprentice star said she had been interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, but would not discuss details.

She insisted she pushed for diversity at the White House, which currently has no African-American in a senior role following her departure.

Ms Manigault-Newman continued to unleash scathing criticism of the 72-year-old Trump, saying he is in mental decline and unfit to be President, and is intentionally sowing racial division. She accused him of using his rowdy political rallies to divide, even suggesting he is promoting violence.

The White House has countered her attack, saying Ms Manigault-Newman is a disgruntled former staffer with credibility and character issues who is now trying to profit through false attacks against someone she has worked with and supported for more than a decade, including his presidential campaign.

“She worked here for a year and didn’t have any of these things to say,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters in Washington. “In fact, everything she said was quite the opposite. And not just the year that she worked here, but the time that she spent on the campaign trail and I think it’s really sad what she’s doing at this point.”

But Ms Sanders has refused to rule out the possibility Mr Trump said the n-word, saying she “couldn’t guarantee” that.

In addition to speaking publicly about her experiences in the White House, Ms Manigault-Newman has been releasing audio recordings of conversations and meetings held in the building, including a snippet of one she says is of her telephone conversation with Mr Trump the day after she was fired in December by White House chief of staff John Kelly.

She has described them as a “treasure trove” she built to “protect herself” in a White House full of “lies”.

She defended herself against criticism that she didn’t do enough to help African-Americans, noting that hiring and personnel were the responsibility of others in the White House, and said she has “tons and tons of emails” in which she pushed job candidates for consideration.

“And it just didn’t seem good enough for this White House,” Ms Manigault-Newman said, suggesting the President is uninterested having a diverse staff.

“There is no excuse that there’s not another African-American assistant to the president. No excuse whatsoever.”

She talked about helping secure funding for the nation’s historically black colleges and universities, of which she is a graduate.