Trump presidency will end if Russia investigation touches on his finances, predicts Michael Wolff

President is 'sunk' if probe explores his accounts, claims author

White House officials believe Donald Trump’s presidency would end if a probe into possible collusion with Russia even “goes near” his finances, the author of an exposé on the President has claimed.

Michael Wolff – whose explosive book about the White House, Fire and Fury, provoked an outraged response from the president – said White House officials and others close to Mr Trump do not think he colluded with Moscow to win the 2016 election.

But, they do believe that if the probe explores his financial affairs it could unearth information that would fatally undermine his position.

“People don’t think in the White House — don’t think that he colluded with Russia,” Mr Wolff told CNBC’s Squawk Box.

“They do think that if the investigation goes near his finances, he’s sunk. Everybody, again, to a man.”

The comments come after it was reported in December that Deutsche Bank had provided the probe, led by special counsel Robert Mueller, with the bank records of affiliates of Mr Trump.

Deutsche Bank has known relationships with Russian oligarchs and other connections to Moscow, legal experts said.

The move suggests Mr Mueller and his team are indeed investigating the finances of people in Trump’s inner circle.

When Mr Trump was asked by the The New York Times last year whether Mr Mueller’s probe would cross a “red line” if it expanded to look at his family’s finances beyond any relationship to Russia, he said: “I would say yes. I think that’s a violation.”

Mr Trump has maintained privacy around his family’s business dealings and refuses to publish his tax returns, unlike other US leaders in recent history.

He has repeatedly denied allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians to help him win the 2016 Presidential election and has called the investigation ”a witch hunt”.

On the day Fire and Fury was published, President took to Twitter to call Mr Wolff a “total loser” and accuse him of making up stories “to sell this really boring and untruthful book”.

Mr Wolff defended his work in the Tuesday interview with CNBC, saying he had recordings to support his claims.

“I am confident in everything that is in this book,” he said.