WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday his choice for director of national intelligence, Representative John Ratcliffe, has decided to remain in Congress and has withdrawn his name from consideration.

"Our great Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe is being treated very unfairly by the LameStream Media," Trump said of Ratcliffe, a Trump loyalist and former prosecutor who apparently embellished his biography.

"Rather than going through months of slander and libel, I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people," Trump said on Twitter. "John has therefore decided to stay in Congress."