If you want to write a book about Trump scandals or Trump White House dysfunction, you’ve got a wealth of material to work with.
Some enterprising writers have apparently picked that up. Now, following Michael Wolff’s lead, a new book about the Trump administration is on the way.
According to Axios, Fox News host Howard Kurtz’s book hits shelves on January 29.
The Washington Post has obtained a few choice bits, and while not as salacious as Wolff’s book, the impression of a chaotic Trump administration is the same.
Among those issues where Trump went off message and torpedoed the efforts of his staff:
Trump, who was supposed to meet with his then-chief of staff Reince Priebus in July to discuss different options regarding transgender individuals serving in the military, unexpectedly preempted any talks and “sent his entire administration scrambling” by announcing his policy decision on Twitter.
Another one of Trump’s spastic tweets ruins the day.
On a Saturday morning in March, White House aides found themselves waking up “confused and ‘blindsided’ to find that Trump had — without any evidence — accused former president Barack Obama on Twitter of wiretapping him during the campaign … ‘Nobody in the White House quite knew what to do.'”
And there are still some in Trumpville that believe, in spite of the evidence, that Obama “wiretapped” Trump.
“Kurtz also recounts an Oval Office meeting in which Bannon blamed Ivanka for a leak — and Trump supported him over his daughter: ‘Baby, I think Steve’s right here,’ Trump told her.” A White House official denied the account to the Post.
Of course they’re denying it now. Bannon has been cast out among the lepers and other fallen riff raff, thanks to the last book that slammed the Trump administration. There’s no way anyone from the White House is going to admit that Trump sided with Steve Bannon over Ivanka.
And speaking of Bannon:
When Bannon left the White House, he told Trump he planned to bring down Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “‘Trump said that was fine, that Bannon should go ahead,’ Kurtz writes.”
We saw Bannon’s efforts. Ultimately, McConnell came out on top and Bannon, as I pointed out, was exiled.
Also, if you want to point fingers at White House leaks, maybe start at the top.
Kurtz writes that aides suspect that the president is just as culpable for White House leaks during that first few months as anybody else.
While fingers are pointing, Trump is blabbing to friends and acquaintances, spilling all the White House beans, and that information ends up in the ears of journalists.
Very probable.
If you want a book to read about Trump’s first year, but you abhor the sensationalism of Wolff’s book, then you can always give “Media Madness: Donald Trump, The Press, And The War Over The Truth” a shot.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member