Controversy over Trump book fuels record sales, publisher says

The publisher of a critical book that President Donald Trump has sought to block sent a defiant letter to Trump’s lawyer on Monday, saying the company has no plans to withdraw it or apologize as the controversy surrounding it has continued to fuel sales.

“My clients do not intend to cease publication, no (retraction) will occur and no apology is warranted,” wrote Elizabeth A. McNamara, the attorney for Henry Holt & Co., the publisher of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff.

Trump’s attorney, Charles Harder, sought last week to stop publication of the behind-thescenes book, whose revelations prompted Trump to denounce Steve Bannon, his former chief strategist. Bannon told Wolff that it was “treasonous” for Trump’s son, Don Jr. and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to meet with a Russian lawyer they believed possessed damaging information about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign.

Harder threatened legal action if the publisher failed to “immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination of the book,” or excerpts and summaries of its contents. Trump’s representative also accused Bannon of breaching a confidentiality agreement by giving Wolff interviews.

The publisher responded last week by speeding up the book’s publication date and expanding its press run.

“We’re commencing to sell as many books as we can,” said John Sargent, chief executive of Henry Holt’s parent company, MacMillan Publishers USA, in an interview Monday. “We have multiple printings at multiple printers now and all of our suppliers are doing a remarkable job of getting books into the marketplace. They all realize the … huge importance of reading a book the government is trying to stop.”

Sargent was almost gleeful about the controversy, saying the publicity it has generated has propelled sales. The publisher now has orders for more than a million hardcover copies, making it the bestselling non-fiction book in Henry Holt’s 151-year history, he said.

Its sales prospects are so strong that Holt has no plans to publish a paperback edition; Sargent said he expected the hardcover version to sell well for the next two years.

The White House and Trump have disputed Wolff’s characterization of the president as mentally unfit for office. Trump has tweeted that he is, “like, really smart” and even “a very stable genius.”