New York: The New York Times has taken the extraordinary step of publishing an opinion article by an anonymous senior Trump administration official who says they are working with colleagues as part of a "quiet resistance" to thwart the President's agenda.

In a note to readers, the Times said it was extremely rare for the paper to publish an op-ed without identifying the author, but it believed the piece offered an important perspective to readers.

US President Donald Trump Credit:Bloomberg

The Times said the author is "a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardised by its disclosure".

The publication of the piece immediately sparked a frenzy of speculation inside the White House, among reporters and on social media about who the author could be. The phrase "senior White House official" could cover anyone from a well-known cabinet minister to an obscure, relatively junior bureaucrat.