As reports of a brewing mutiny in the West Wing and federal agencies help to exacerbate the president's paranoia, Trump has stepped up his attacks on the anonymous saboteur who purportedly penned a New York Times op-ed slamming the commander-in-chief as incompetent, ill-tempered and fundamentally unfit for office. In particular, the author complained about the president's "instability" and "misguided impulses" in what appeared to be a deliberate attack coordinated with the Washington Post, which had only just published "leaked" excerpts of Watergate journalist Bob Woodward's upcoming book "Fear".

In a tweet sent last night, Trump accused the turncoat - allegedly a "senior official in the Trump administration" - of being part of the deep state apparatus that has tried to undermine the president's agenda at every turn - via the bogus Russia investigation or the unceasing stream of embarrassing leaks to the media. Meanwhile, the US economy is booming and the unemployment rate (which will receive another update later this morning) has plunged below 4% as the economic expansion is now the second-longest on record. "The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy - & they don’t know what to do."

The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy - & they don’t know what to do. The Economy is booming like never before, Jobs are at Historic Highs, soon TWO Supreme Court Justices & maybe Declassification to find Additional Corruption. Wow! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2018

Trump later suggested that the op-ed was a reaction provoked by his push to "drain the swamp" and replace corrupt Washington insiders.

I’m draining the Swamp, and the Swamp is trying to fight back. Don’t worry, we will win! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2018

Trump's insistence that the Times turn over the name of the op-ed's author - calling it a matter of "national security" - has found support among his allies in Congress, including Rand Paul, who has suggested that the president should use a lie-detector test to ferret out the traitor in the ranks.

Sen. Rand Paul says Trump would be justified in using lie-detector tests to find author of anonymous critical New York Times op-ed. — Alex Bolton (@alexanderbolton) September 6, 2018

To underscore his point, the president Tweeted late Thursday tweet that the New York Times' investigative journalists should "investigate themselves" - once again calling the op-ed's legitimacy into question.

Are the investigative “journalists” of the New York Times going to investigate themselves - who is the anonymous letter writer? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2018

But as Joseph Heller, the author of Catch 22, once wrote: "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you." Or as Larry Sabato, a politics expert from the University of Virginia, told the Financial Times:

"Trump will use this to stoke the paranoia among his fierce partisans, just as it has already fed Trump’s own paranoia," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia politics expert. "As the old saying goes, maybe you’re paranoid because somebody’s out to get you."

Whoever these self-styled "adults in the room might be", they should know that it isn't very mature to lob anonymous ad hominem attacks at one's boss - particularly when that person is the leader of the free world. And with big tech completing its purge of prominent conservative voices like Alex Jone and Infowars, we can't help but wonder: Is this a coordinated attack by the media and big tech to undermine Trump?