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Trump tweets that new book by former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz is ‘very interesting’

(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, with his wife, Julie, at his side, speaks at the Utah Republican Convention, Saturday, May 19, 2017.

President Donald Trump tweeted his praise Wednesday for former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s new book.

“Great new book by Jason Chaffetz appropriately called ‘The Deep State,’” the president wrote. “Very interesting indeed!”

Trump’s comment comes after he earlier in the day disavowed the term “deep state” during an Oval Office interview with The Hill. The president rattled through a list of Fox News commentators he appreciated but said he didn’t like that they used the term to describe the federal bureaucracy.

“I don’t like to use it because it sounds so conspiratorial, and believe it or not I’m really not a conspiratorial person,” he said.

Chaffetz quickly responded to Trump’s tweet with: “Thank you, Mr. President.”

His book, which came out this week, is about federal workers who Chaffetz describes as standing against the Founding Fathers and their goal of limited government. During his time in office, he said, they often stymied his requests for records.

“They don’t like exposure, accountability, or responsibility,” he writes. “They fight back, outlast, and work the system for their advantage. And they certainly don’t like disruptive forces such as Donald Trump.”