FIRE AND FURY IN WASHINGTON.
NO. 1 SELLER
Author Michael Wolff ’s sensational book on President Donald Trump’s administration is the top seller online. That’s according to information released by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which each reported that hardcovers of Fire and Fury stood at No. 1 as of midday Friday. But they were also out of stock, with Amazon advising that shipment might take two to four weeks. Demand for the book has been insatiable since reports of its contents emerged Wednesday. Publisher Henry & Holt Company had planned a Jan. 9 release. Trump threatened legal action, demanding that Holt withhold the book. Instead, the publisher moved up the release four days to Friday due to “overwhelming demand.” The book extensively quotes former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. Trump has said the book is full of lies.
MIDNIGHT LINEUP
Neither polar vortex nor “bomb cyclone” nor gloom of night could keep Washington’s political gossipmongers from lining up at Kramerbooks Thursday night for the midnight sale of Michael Wolff ’s book. “This is a D.C. moment, and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Steve Dingledine, a fifth-grade teacher who showed up shortly after 11 p.m. and held the pole position in a line that snaked through the bookstore/café. Early Thursday evening, Kramerbooks had announced it would start selling copies of Wolff ’s book at midnight — nine hours before the text would be available to download via Kindle, thus providing a rare case of paper being faster than digital.
‘ S LOPPY STEVE ’
President Donald Trump is praising a major Republican donor family for distancing themselves from former adviser Steve Bannon. Trump tweeted Friday: “The Mercer Family recently dumped the leaker known as Sloppy Steve Bannon. Smart!” On Thursday, Rebekah Mercer issued a statement distancing her family from Bannon. She is a billionaire GOP donor and co-owner of Breitbart, the populist website that Bannon helps run. “I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected,” she said in the statement. “My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements.”
‘ WHERE DO I SEND A BOX OF CHOCOLAT E S ? ’
Author Michael Wolff says the president’s calls to halt publication of his book have merely helped him sell more copies. “Where do I send a box of chocolates,” he asked Friday on NBC’s Today Show. Speaking on Fox and Friends on Friday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wolff never interviewed the president, saying he “repeatedly begged to see the president.” She called the author “a guy who made up a lot of stories to try and sell books.” But Wolff said on the Today Show that he “absolutely” spoke to the president. He said whether Trump “realized it was an interview or not, I don’t know, but it was certainly not off the record.” He also said he had spoken to Trump since the inauguration.
SANDERS DISSES BANNON
Sanders criticized former White House adviser Steve Bannon Friday, saying “we’ve seen a side that is frankly very, very disappointing.” Speaking on Fox and Friends, Sanders said Bannon met with Wolff on “multiple occasions.” She said Bannon “spent a lot more time with reporters than he ever did with the president.”
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
Bannon, who helped Trump form a coalition of anti-establishment Republicans, was preparing to launch a non-profit organization designed to help give the president’s brand of conservatism populism a permanent base. It’s unclear how his rift with Trump will affect the organization, dubbed Citizens of the American Republic. Current and former White House officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Bannon has miscalculated by attacking the president and his family. “Bannon has no contingent,” former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday.
BURY THE HATCHET?
Donald Trump has been known to bury the hatchet with those he perceived to have wronged him. So some allies are encouraging him to welcome Bannon back into his good graces. “You can either excise him or shun him, which I don’t think is the best recommended strategy, or tell him to knock it off and bring himself back into the fold,” Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House communications director, said on MSNBC. Trump coolly noted Thursday his fullthroated counterassault appeared to have had its desired effect on Bannon. “He called me a great man last night,” Trump said, referring to comments Bannon made on a Breitbart News Tonight radio show.