Photo: The Canadian Press

Former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in New York.

Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman declared that she "will not be silenced" by President Donald Trump, remaining defiant as her public feud with her former boss appeared to shift to a possible legal battle.

In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Manigault Newman, who is promoting her new book about her time in Trump's orbit, said she believes the president's campaign is trying to keep her from telling her story. She commented just hours after Trump's campaign announced it was filing an arbitration action against her, alleging violations of a secrecy agreement she signed.

"I will not be intimidated," she told the AP. "I'm not going to be bullied by Donald Trump."

Still, the former reality TV star-turned-political aide declined to answer several questions about her experiences during her year as the highest-ranking African-American aide in Trump's White House, citing the arbitration action. She said she'd been interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller's office, but would not discuss details.

But Manigault Newman insisted she pushed for diversity at the White House, which currently has no African-American in a senior role following her departure.

Manigault Newman continued to unleash scathing criticism of the 72-year-old Trump, saying he's in mental decline and unfit to be president, and is intentionally sowing racial division. She accused him of using his rowdy political rallies to divide, even suggesting Trump is promoting violence.

Discussing the differences between their views, she said: "One, I want to see this nation united as opposed to divided. I don't want to see a race war as Donald Trump does."

The White House counters that Manigault Newman is a disgruntled former staffer with credibility and character issues who is now trying to profit through false attacks against someone she has worked with and supported for more than a decade, including his presidential campaign.

"She worked here for a year and didn't have any of these things to say," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters in Washington. "In fact, everything she said was quite the opposite. And not just the year that she worked here, but the time that she spent on the campaign trail and I think it's really sad what she's doing at this point."