President’s lawyer moves to block hotly debated book
WASHINGTON — President Trump escalated his attack on a new book portraying him as a volatile and ill-equipped chief executive Thursday as his legal team demanded that the author and publisher halt its release and apologize or face a possible lawsuit.
In an 11-page letter, the president’s lawyer said the book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” by Michael Wolff, as excerpted in a magazine article, includes false statements about Trump that “give rise to claims for libel” that could result in “substantial monetary damages and punitive damages.”
“Mr. Trump hereby demands that you immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination of the book, the article, or any excerpts or summaries of either of them, to any person or entity, and that you issue a full and complete retraction and apology to my client as to all statements made about him in the book and article that lack competent evidentiary support,” the letter said.
Undeterred, Henry Holt and Co., the publisher, announced that rather than desist, it would make the book available for sale starting at 9 a.m. Friday rather than wait for its original release date on Tuesday.
“We see ‘Fire and Fury’ as an extraordinary contribution to our national discourse, and are proceeding with the publication of the book,” the company said in a statement.
The book angered Trump in part by quoting Stephen Bannon, his former chief strategist, making derogatory comments about the president’s children. Bannon was quoted as saying that Donald Trump Jr. had been “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” for meeting with Russians during the 2016 campaign and that Ivanka Trump was “dumb as a brick.” Trump fired back Wednesday, saying that Bannon had “lost his mind” and had “nothing to do with me or my presidency.”
Bannon, who had stayed in touch with Trump sporadically after being pushed out of the White House last summer, sought to smooth over the rift during his Breitbart News radio show Wednesday night.
“The president of the United States is a great man,” Bannon told a caller. “You know I support him day in and day out, whether going through the country giving the ‘Trump Miracle’ speech or on the show or on the website.”
He assured another caller that Trump was still fighting for their shared cause. “Maybe things get off track, or stuff gets said, and all this heated stuff, but however, this is a guy, you voted for him, you supported him,” he said. “Is there any doubt in your mind he’s been fighting for and working for you, the deplorables, the forgotten man and woman, the silent majority, every day he’s been there?”
The president cited those comments Thursday when asked by reporters if Bannon had betrayed him.
“I don’t know,” Trump said. “He called me a great man last night so, you know, he obviously changed his tune pretty quick,” Trump said.