Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
By Michael Wolff
Little Brown Book Group (2018)
Book Review
The most remarkable aspect of this book is its blow-by-blow account of Team Trump – from his nomination in July 2016 to Steve Bannon’s firing in
August 2017. Unlike prior presidential administrations, which are extremely guarded about their inner workings, Trump’s White House offered the media virtually unfettered access during his first nine months. According to Wolff this occurred for four main reasons: 1) Trump’s impulsive daily tweets 2) the constant “weaponized” leaks from warring Trump staffers* 3) Trump’s nightly rambling calls to wealthy supporters** and 4) his willingness to allow more public access to the Oval Office than any previous president.
While Wolff cite sources for his factual statements and quotes, the book has been carefully fact checked, in addition to being reviewed by two libel attorneys.***
As a psychiatrist, what I found most interesting about Fire and Fury is the insight it reveals into Trump’s psychological functioning. The current President is described by nearly everyone who has worked with him as extremely childlike, guileless, impulsive, undisciplined, incapable of following a game plan and impossible to communicate with. He trusts no one.
One of the few direct quotes in the book is from his former scheduler Katie Walsh: “It’s like trying to figure out what a child wants.”
My favorite quote, though, comes from Trump himself during a staff discussion about repealing Obamacare: “Why can’t Medicare simply cover everyone?”
Toning down Trump’s impulsiveness has been virtually impossible, though some staffers have been able to influence his behavior by winding him up.
Trump categorically refuses to read written briefings or watch PowerPoint presentations. He also refuses to listen to long verbal briefings and tends not to follow scripted statements. He always prefers to be the one talking, typically coming out with long rambling statements in which he frequently repeats himself.
Wolff’s introduction also confirms what many analysts have surmised: Trump didn’t intend to win the Presidency. His original plan was to use the media exposure to launch his own TV network. In fact, Trump refused to invest any of his own money in the campaign (although he loaned them $10 million).
*Prior to Bannon’s departure in August 2017, there was no White House chain of command and no clearly defined duties for any of its staff. Four discrete factions – Bannon, Jared Kushner/Ivana Trump (Bannon called them Jarvanka) nominal Chief of staff Reince Priebus and Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway were at continual war with one another in controlling Team Trump. According to many sources, Trump essentially served as his own chief of staff and press secretary, in that he phone reporters, dictated quotes and personally reviewed all press releases.
**The recipients of these calls (concerning unfavorable media and Trump’s “incompetent” staff) were so alarmed by them that they often felt compelled to pass on their content to White House staff and/or reporters.
***The Trump family is notoriously litigious, and Wolff and his publisher must be able to document the book’s assertions in a libel suit.
The PPJ Gazette 
Sep 18, 2019 @ 22:21:05
Recording Reveals Oil Executives Laughing About “Unprecedented Access” to Trump
During a 2017 meeting, they boast about ties to David Bernhardt, the Interior secretary nominee.
LANCE WILLIAMS
This story was originally published by Reveal. It appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Gathered for a private meeting at a beachside Ritz-Carlton in Southern California, the oil executives were celebrating a colleague’s sudden rise. David Bernhardt, their former lawyer, had been appointed by President Donald Trump to the powerful No. 2 spot at the Department of the Interior.
Just five months into the Trump era, the energy developers who make up the Independent Petroleum Association of America had already watched the new president order a sweeping overhaul of environmental regulations that were cutting into their bottom lines—rules concerning smog, fracking and endangered species protection.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/recording-reveals-oil-executives-laughing-about-unprecedented-access-to-trump/
LikeLike
Sep 18, 2019 @ 22:09:27
Swamp Monster Crashes David Bernhardt Hearing
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sep 18, 2019 @ 22:08:07
I always feel like he is in the early stages of dementia.
LikeLike
Sep 18, 2019 @ 21:59:03
People seem to either hate him or love him.
If he plans to stay in politics he would be wise to learn to laugh at himself..it comes with the territory
A bit of humility wouldn’t hurt him either.
He has been surrounded and captured by the very swamp creatures that he promised to eradicate
Those that only tell him what he wants to hear get to stay on the team.
Rules for Trump Chess
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/rules-for-trump-chess
1. Each turn is referred to as a “news cycle.”
2. One side retains the pieces used in standard chess; the other side consists entirely of pawns. The player with only pawns is nevertheless loudly and repeatedly assured that he or she still has all the regular pieces.
3. About a third of the all-pawn lineup doesn’t see anything wrong with the opponent’s king winning, and will be of no use to the player.
4. A handful of new pieces will be introduced during game play, scattered haphazardly across the board. They include: two overcooked macaroni noodles (Kushners), a shrivelled white raisin with lint on it (Sessions), and a washcloth soaked in warm Johnnie Walker (Bannon). Their permitted moves are unclear, but every news cycle, players must select one to put in their mouths until they gag.
5. Trump Chess comes with a countdown timer, whose ticking speeds up over the course of the game. This may cause players to feel uncomfortable and anxious, but trying to tamper with the timer only makes it worse.
6. The player with the sole king can wipe the board clean of all pieces at any point. During the subsequent news cycle, players are free to try to reassemble the board as best they can remember. There is no limit to the number of times the king-holder can do this.
7. The queen can disappear for multiple news cycles at a time. When on the board, the queen doesn’t move. She just kind of stays put and is aloof and silent. She theoretically could move in any direction she chooses, possibly even to end the game, but doesn’t for some reason.
8. There are multiple queen variations in each Trump Chess box but, having agreed to the terms of previous rulebooks, they can no longer participate.
9. Bishops remain on the king’s side, despite obvious contradictions to previously observed rules and regulations.
10. King-side rooks still move in straight lines, but they can also backtrack if they take out the opposing side’s pawns. If the all-pawn player attempts to reintroduce his or her rooks to the board, the king’s pawns and rooks may swarm them in what is known as a “fake-news flourish.”
11. Knights still move in that ridiculous two-squares-up, one-square-over path. They think they are being very clever. Their creepy horse faces must always be turned to face the king.
12. We’re told there’s an unseen Dungeon Master hiding somewhere nearby. Players may curse him all they want, but it doesn’t seem like he will be intervening in game play anytime soon.
13. Whenever a piece is captured, the king can immediately reduce its rank, claiming that it really wasn’t on the board for long and played a very minor role in the game.
14. Regardless of side, pawns will always be sacrificed before any higher-ranking pieces.
LikeLike