Excerpts from Michael Wolff's forthcoming "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump Administration" in The Guardian, New York Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and British GQ have set the Internet ablaze over the past 24 hours and resulted in the ejection of Steve Bannon from Trumpworld.
Be smart: While Bannon's ouster has earned the lion's share of the hubbub on cable and online, there's a treasure trove of important tidbits in Wolff's reporting that have nothing to do with the president's ex-chief strategist. And don't forget, Wolff claims to have hours and hours of tapes to back up his book.
In conversations at Mar-a-Lago and back in Washington, friends and advisers have begun giving President Trump advice about how to win reelection in 2020.
The clearest signal that Trump is thinking about the re-elect: In a conversation with someone he was about to send to an ambassadorship, Trump said he needed that person back in the U.S. in 2019 to help run his campaign.
This might seem premature. But Trump's friends believe he will run again, even though he finds parts of the job a drag. The Mar-a-Lago 2020 bull sessions gave them a chance to shape the upcoming legislative debates around his one abiding obsession: winning.
President Trump threatened "Fire and Fury" author Michael Wolff on Thursday with a lawyer's letter which "demands that you immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination of the Book."
The 10-page letter is from Charles Harder, a lawyer for Trump who on Wednesday issued a similar threat to Steve Bannon, the former White House official who was a key source for the book.It's addressed to Wolff and Steve Rubin, president and publisher of Henry Holt, which is scheduled to release the book on Tuesday.
The letter, citing "false and/or baseless statements that you have made about Mr. Trump," tells Wolff: "Your publication of the false/baseless statements about Mr. Trump gives rise to, among other claims, defamation by libel, defamation by libel per se, false light invasion of privacy, tortious interference with contractual relations, and inducement of breach of contract."
Be smart: The legal threats are a result of Trump's fury, and are certain to increase publicity for Wolff's book, which is likely to see a sales bonanza as a result of threats from the president of the United States.
The Department of Justice will take another look at the handling of classified documents on Hillary Clinton's email server, according to a report from The Daily Beast. Among other things, the new inquiry is set to examine the volume of classified data on Clinton's server and who might have transferred documents into an unclassified setting.
Why it matters: The news comes after President Trump has actively promoted reopening the investigation into Clinton's emails, suggesting on Tuesday via Twitter that Clinton associate Huma Abedin and former FBI Director James Comey should face jail time. As a result, any reopened investigation would be riddled with questions about potential political interference from the White House.
Following the fallout from Steve Bannon's explosive quotes in Michael Wolff's forthcoming book "Fire and Fury" — including a scathing statement by President Trump — Bannon assured listeners on his morning radio show Thursday that he still supports the president:
"Nothing will ever come between us and President Trump and his agenda ... There's nobody we think higher of than President Trump, and the agenda, so let's not let the left wing media stir that up." — Steve Bannon on Breitbart radio
Starting next week, the use of all personal devices for both guests and staff will be banned in the West Wing of the White House, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Thursday.
"The security and integrity of the technology systems at the White House is a top priority for the Trump administration and therefore starting next week the use of all personal devices for both guests and staff will no longer be allowed in the West Wing. Staff will be able to conduct business on their government-issued devices and continue working hard on behalf of the American people."
President Trump took credit for South Korea's proposal of high-level talks with North Korea, after Kim Jong-un said he would be "open to dialogue" with President Moon.
Why it matters: Trump acknowledging that talks "are a good thing" breaks with the hard line he and his administration has maintained against North Korea. So far Trump has insisted that negotiations are off the table until Pyongyang abandons its nuclear arsenal. Just two days ago, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said the U.S. will not recognize talks among other countries and North Korea until the country abandons their nuclear weapons.
Amid the firestorm over Michael Wolff's forthcoming book "Fire and Fury," a lawyer for President Trump says legal action against Steve Bannon is "imminent," accusing the former White House aide of breaking a confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement he had signed with the Trump campaign.
The five-page cease-and-desist letter, which orders Bannon to retain any relevant texts and emails, says:
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray visited Speaker Paul Ryan Wednesday to talk about FBI documents related to the Trump-Russia dossier, Politico reports, citing a source familiar with the meeting. They reportedly discussed a request by House intelligence committee chairman Devin Nunes for documents showing how the FBI handled the salacious but unverified dossier.
The backdrop: The FBI agreed to pay Christopher Steele — the former British intelligence officer who complied the dossier — to continue his work in Moscow after Trump was elected, but backed out once he was publicly identified.
Outgoing Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch on Wednesday said said he would support Mitt Romney if he decides to run for his Senate seat. On Utah's Morning News radio program, Hatch said:
"We haven't spoken in the last few days, but if Mitt decides to run, he knows he'll have my support."
Why it matters: Hatch's retirement, and his support, make it likely that Romney will be in the Senate as of January, 2019 — an outcome President Trump is reportedly far from enthusiastic about.
Donald Trump's 2016 plan was never to become president, but rather to become "the most famous man in the world," according to excerpts from Michael Wolff's forthcoming book, published in New York Magazine.
What Trump really wanted: Trump, encouraged by longtime friend and former head of Fox News Roger Ailes, thought that he would emerge from the campaign with "a far more powerful brand and untold opportunities," such as his own Trump Network. "This is bigger than I ever dreamed of," Trump reportedly told Ailes a week before the election. "I don't think about losing, because it isn't losing. We've totally won."
Alabama incoming Democratic Senator Doug Jones will be escorted by Former Vice President Joe Biden to his swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday to take the seat once held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, WAAY TV reports.
Why it matters: Jones, a former federal prosecutor who notched an upset last month in the deep-red state, is breaking tradition. Typically, a new senator would choose their home-state colleague, but Jones didn't ask Sen. Richard Shelby, per WAAY TV.
Despite Trump's tweets this week indicating he has a so-called "Nuclear Button" that's "much bigger & more powerful" than Kim Jong-un's are nothing more than flourish. There's not a real "nuclear button" Trump can press — that's just a metaphor for the framework that's used to ultimately launch a nuclear weapon.
The bottom line: There's a "nuclear briefcase," a "black book" and a "biscuit."
Steve Bannon said the meeting Donald Trump Jr. took with a Russian government lawyer in June 2016 was "treasonous" and "unpatriotic," according to previews in The Guardian from Michael Wolff's forthcoming book about the Trump White House.
"The three senior guys in the campaign 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 described where he thinks the Mueller probe is headed:
"You realize where this is going…This is all about money laundering…Their path to [expletive] Trump goes right through Paul Manafort, Don Jr and Jared Kushner…It's as plain as a hair on your face."
Bannon's prediction: "They're going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV."
The book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, is out next week.
Go deeper on the meeting: Trump Jr. was notified before the meeting the Russian lawyer would present information that would be damaging to Hillary Clinton. Jared Kushner and Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, also attended the meeting.
The unsurprising announcement by Senate President Pro Tem Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), 83, that he's retiring at the end of this term — and his likely replacement by Mitt Romney, who yesterday changed his Twitter location to "Holladay, UT" — is "another political setback for Mr. Trump," per N.Y. Times' Jonathan Martin:
Why it matters: "Romney's potential ascent is particularly alarming to the White House because the former presidential candidate has an extensive political network and could use the Senate seat as a platform to again seek the nomination."
CFR President Richard Haass tells me that the title of his book a year ago, "A World in Disarray," actually understated the situation. Haass is out this week with a paperback edition that includes a new, nine-page Afterword: "Things have become even worse that I had imagined. Disarray is greater than expected."
One highlight: The Trump administration is a significant cause of increased disarray in the world: "Trump is the first post-WWII president to view the burdens of world leadership as outweighing the benefits. The United States has changed from the principal preserver of order to a principal disrupter."
Steve Bannon tells Axios National Political Reporter Jonathan Swan that January will define his Trump's presidency — and is his last, best chance to make good on his most controversial campaign promises.
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch announced his retirement Tuesday, despite President Trump urging him to seek re-election. That clears the way for Mitt Romney to run for the open seat, and he's widely expected to do so.
The big picture: Trump wanted Hatch to keep his seat in part to block Romney, with whom he has exchanged brutal attacks since Romney condemned him during the 2016 primaries. Just 13 months ago, though, the two sat down at dinner to discuss the possibility of Romney becoming Trump's Secretary of State. Here's a look at their complicated history:
