Columns

ECLECTIC RANT: North Korea gave thumbs up to Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury

Ralph E. Stone
Friday January 12, 2018 - 04:46:00 PM

Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury: Inside Trump's White House, portrays an unflattering view of President Trump and much of his White House. Excerpts of the book had already appeared in New York Magazine.

Among the juiciest claims in the book:

* Trump's "ultimate goal” had never been to win the Oval Office. But he was excited about the exposure and opportunities to develop his brand;

* “I got as far as the Fourth Amendment before his finger is pulling down on his lip and his eyes are rolling back in his head,” former aide Sam Nunberg told Wolff about the time he was sent to explain the Constitution to Trump early in the campaign;

* President Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, described a controversial meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and a Russian lawyer as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” to Wolff;

* Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly called Trump a “moron” last year;

* “For (Treasury Secretary) Steve Mnuchin and (former Trump White House chief of staff) Reince Priebus, the president was an ‘idiot.’ For (former Goldman Sachs exec) Gary Cohn, he was ‘dumb as sh-t.’ For (National Security Adviser) H.R. McMaster he was a ‘dope.’ The list went on,” Wolff said;

* “It’s worse than you can imagine. An idiot surrounded by clowns. Trump won't read anything — not one-page memos, not the brief policy papers; nothing. He gets up halfway through meetings with world leaders because he is bored. And his staff is no better. Kushner is an entitled baby who knows nothing. Bannon is an arrogant p---k who thinks he’s smarter than he is. Trump is less a person than a collection of terrible traits ... I am in a constant state of terror and shock,” Gary Cohn said in an email, according to Fire and Fury; and so on. 

Trump's personal attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter to publisher Henry Holt and Wolff demanding that the book not be released or face legal action. This, of course ensured a best seller. The book was published on January 5, 2018, and as predicted is already a best seller. The book sold 29,000 hard copies the first weekend, and digital and audio sales have topped 350,000. 

While Wolff's book got mixed reviews from critics, North Korea's state media gave it a thumbs up, which said the book's popularity "foretells Trump's political demise." 

I am not going to read the book but I am sure enjoying the furor caused by its publication.