WASHINGTON – After the publication of a scathingly critical essay purportedly from an anonymous senior administration official, President Donald Trump used a series of morning tweets to defend his leadership, citing strong economic data and praise from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy - & they don’t know what to do," Trump tweeted. "The Economy is booming like never before, Jobs are at Historic Highs, soon TWO Supreme Court Justices & maybe Declassification to find Additional Corruption. Wow!"

The New York Times published an op-ed Wednesday that it said was from a senior official who described the president as erratic and amoral and said staff worked to thwart "misguided" decisions they feared would be detrimental to the country.

In the hours after the Times posted the story Wednesday afternoon, an angry Trump criticized the newspaper for not identifying the author. He demanded that the Times out him or her and suggested that the person should be investigated.

More:Mike Pence denies writing critical NYT essay about Trump amid 'lodestar' speculation

Trump official calls president erratic, amoral

Thursday, Trump devoted Twitter time to other issues, including efforts to remove nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.

"Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims 'unwavering faith in President Trump,' " the U.S. president tweeted. "Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!"

In a third post, Trump returned to the economy, proclaiming "consumer confidence highest in 18 years, Atlanta Fed forecasts 4.7 GDP, manufacturing jobs highest in many years."