Book widens rift between Trump and Bannon,
Trump-Bannon split over ‘Fire and Fury’ could be permanent
WASHINGTON — The acrimony surrounding former White House adviser Steve Bannon’s public break with President Donald Trump is escalating, suggesting a permanent split between the president and the pugilistic strategist who helped put him in the Oval Office.
The new fissure in an already fractious Republican Party casts doubt on Bannon’s hopes to foment a movement centered on “Trumpism without Trump.”
White House officials described Trump as furious at Bannon’s criticisms, laid out in “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” an explosive new book that quoted the former aide as questioning Trump’s competence and describing a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign aides and a Russian lawyer as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”
On Twitter on Thursday night, Trump said the book was full of “lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist.”
He also came up with a nickname for Bannon: “Sloppy Steve.”
A defiant Michael Wolff, author of “Fire and Fury,” spoke on NBC’s “Today” show Friday, defending his reporting and saying Trump’s to halt publication have been good for sales.
The book is the top seller online, according to information released by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which each reported that hardcovers of “Fire and Fury” stood at No. 1 Friday. But they were also out of stock, with Amazon advising that shipment might take two to four weeks.
The book paints Trump as unprepared for the presidency and his aides as concerned about his fitness for office.
“Where do I send the box of chocolates?” Wolff asked in jest when asked about Trump’s vitriol on the show.
Wolff also dismissed attacks from Trump and his allies over the author’s credibility. Some sources for the book have disputed specific quotes and characterizations of their actions, while others have pointed to inconsistencies in the book and errors in Wolff’s past reporting to suggest that his account cannot be trusted.
“Liar and phony,” read an email from the Republican National Committee featuring Wolff’s picture and selected quotes from journalists criticizing his work.
But Wolff, a New York media columnist who has written for New York magazine, Vanity Fair, USA Today and The Guardian, said he had broad access to Trump, former senior White House adviser Steve Bannon and other senior officials.
“I work like every journalist works,” he said. “I have recordings. I have notes. I am, in absolutely every way, comfortable with everything released in this book. My credibility is being questioned by a man who has less credibility than perhaps anyone who walked on Earth at this point.”
Wolff added that he has written “millions upon millions of words,” but “I don’t think there’s been any corrections.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump spoke to Wolff only once for about “five to seven minutes,” and not specifically about the book. But the author said he spoke with Trump for several hours while working on the book, and that he spoke to people who met with Trump on a “daily and sometimes minute-by-minute basis.”
People called Trump a “moron” and an “idiot,” according to Wolff.
“The one description that everyone gave: They all say he is like a child,” Wolff said. “The need for immediate gratification. It’s all about him. “This man does not read, does not listen. He’s like a pinball just shooting off the sides.”
Though Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Bannon had “lost his mind,” the Breitbart News chief has since attempted to ratchet down tensions with his former boss, calling him a “great man” who maintains his full support.
Wolff said his visits to the White House and his discussions with staffers left him with the impression that “100 percent” of Trump’s aides, including daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner had come to doubt the president’s capacity for the job.
But the author also seemed to reveal that he had used a bit of deception to gain the trust of the very aides who looked foolish or disingenuous in the book.
“I’m a nice guy,” Wolff said. But “I certainly said whatever was necessary to get the story.”
Asked about Bannon’s comments in the book and in recent days, Wolff said: “The president has tried to put this, this book is about Steve Bannon. So let me say very forthrightly: This book is not about Steve Bannon. This book is about Donald Trump.”