The new book depicts a president too consumed with chaos in his own administration to make time for allies. Trump reportedly spent a crucial G20 summit in Hamburg planning how to deal with his children's Russia ties.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Loeb
Advertisement
"Fire and Fury," the new tell-all book from journalist Michael Wolff about the chaotic, unhappy inner workings of the Donald Trump White House is full of juicy stories — betrayal, accusations of treason, infighting, and name-calling.
But what might be most interesting for the US' many allies around the world is what is not mentioned — namely, almost no foreign countries or leaders other than those of Russia and China.
For those left baffled by Trump's flip-flopping attitudes on both the European Union and NATO, Wolff's book offers a possible explanation. "Fire and Fury" depicts a president who is too overwhelmed, concentrated on problems within his administration and not competent enough to take care of crucial relationships abroad.
The UK, often seen as the US' oldest and most important friend, is mentioned only once in passing, as is its leader Theresa May (in a paragraph referring to seating arrangements) and the EU. There is no mention of modern Germany (though Nazis turn up a few times), Chancellor Angela Merkel or France, nor of most of Washington's other European allies.
'Fire and Fury': A look inside Donald Trump's White House
Even before publication, a new book by American journalist Michael Wolff has triggered anger in Washington. Based on interviews with high-ranking officials and Trump himself, it offers a rare view into the White House.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
'Fire and Fury'
Excerpts published by US and British news outlets from American journalist Michael Wolff's new book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" about US President Donald Trump's administration have offered a look into the inner workings of the White House. From finding comfort in McDonald's hamburgers to Ivanka's presidential dreams, here are some excerpts from the book.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Camp
'Melania was in tears'
"Shortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night, when the unexpected trend – Trump might actually win – seemed confirmed, Don Jr. told a friend that his father, or DJT, as he calls him, looked as if he had seen a ghost. Melania was in tears – and not of joy. There was, in the space of little more than an hour ... a befuddled Trump morphing into a disbelieving Trump and then into a horrified Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/V. Mayo
Ivanka Trump the 'first woman president'?
"Balancing risk against reward, both Jared (Kushner) and Ivanka decided to accept roles in the West Wing over the advice of almost everyone they knew ... Between themselves, the two had made an earnest deal: If sometime in the future the opportunity arose, she'd be the one to run for president. The first woman president, Ivanka entertained, would not be Hillary Clinton; it would be Ivanka Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/M. Sohn
Finding comfort in fast food
"He had a longtime fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's – nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely pre-made."
Image: Instagram
Bannon's theories
"The real enemy, (Bannon) said, was China. China was the first front in a new Cold War. China's everything. Nothing else matters. We don't get China right, we don't get anything right. This whole thing is very simple. China is where Nazi Germany was in 1929 to 1930. The Chinese, like the Germans, are the most rational people in the world, until they're not."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
Bannon: Donald Jr. was 'treasonous'
"(Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort) thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor – with no lawyers … Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately," Bannon said.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/C. Kaster
'Losing was winning'
"Once he lost, Trump would be both insanely famous and a martyr to Crooked Hillary. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared would be international celebrities. Steve Bannon would become the de facto head of the tea-party movement ... Melania Trump, who had been assured by her husband that he wouldn't become president, could return to inconspicuously lunching. Losing was winning."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
7 images1 | 7
Foreign trips overshadowed by Russia investigation
According to Wolff, who spent months conducting interviews and watching the routine inside the White House, Trump had hoped that his 24-hour visit to Brussels in May would cement "the line between Western-alliance-based foreign policy, which had been firmly in place since World War II, and the new America First ethos."
Unfortunately for Trump, his short trip to Europe was overshadowed by coverage of the investigation into collusion between his presidential campaign and Russian agents, being conducted by Robert Mueller.
A second chance to build ties presented itself in July, at the G20 summit held in the German city of Hamburg. However, according to Wolff, Trump and his team spent most of the time trying to figure out how to deal with revelations that Donald Trump Jr had met with Russian lawyers at Trump Tower during the campaign, as well as the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner having financial ties to Russian businesses.
"As the president and his team huddled on the plane, the central subject was not the conference, it was how to respond to the Times story about Don Jr.'s and Jared's Trump tower meeting," Wolff writes.
The White House has dismissed Wolff's book as "lies," and sent a letter to publisher Henry Holt & Co. to stop the book's release.
In response, the company brought forward the publication to Friday instead of next week. Wolff, for his part, has presented records of his interviews with both President Trump and several staffers, including former adviser Steve Bannon, as evidence that the stories presented in the book are true.
On Friday, Wolff also jokingly thanked the president for increasing sales of his book by trying to suppress it.
