Having unleashed a firestorm of controversy which has (so far) culminated in the dramatic and terminal split between president Trump and his former chief advisor, Steve Bannon, author Michael Wolff thanked President Trump on Thursday after attention from the White House helped prompt Wolff’s publisher to accelerate the release of his new book about the Trump administration.
Here we go. You can buy it (and read it) tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. President.
— Michael Wolff (@MichaelWolffNYC) January 4, 2018
Happy to capitalize on the unprecedented and free marketing campaign by the White House, Henry Holt & Company, the publisher of Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” is letting several retailers begin selling the book on Friday, CNN reports. It was previously set to go on sale next Tuesday.
Several excerpts from the book were released beginning Wednesday. During press briefings over the past two days, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed questions related to the excerpts, and blasting the book as “pathetic” and containing “numerous mistakes.”
That’s all the publisher needed.
“We saw a huge spike in demand yesterday,” Terry Finley, chief executive of Books-a-Million, told The Wall Street Journal. “President Trump’s attack absolutely stirred interest.”
The tell-all book, which is allegedly corroborated by hours of tape recorded conversations, contains several noteworthy allegations, including that Trump was shocked at his 2016 victory, that 21st Century Fox co-chairman Rupert Murdoch called the president a “f—ing idiot,” and more.
The excerpts also included quotes from ousted White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, who called a 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians “unpatriotic” and “treasonous.” He also suggested President Trump knew about the meeting, contradicting past White House statements.
Trump responded by tearing into Bannon on Wednesday, accusing him of having “lost his mind” when he left the White House in August and inflating his own importance within the administration.
Pushing demand for the book over the edge was the reported cease and desist letter issued overnight by Trump’s lawyers, which demanded that the book not be published, and that Wolff issue an apology to Trump.
For those who may have missed it, the latest excerpt from the book was released today on the Hollywood Reporter.
Finally, confirming just how serious the fallout between Trump and Bannon is, was the following detail noticed on Thursday afternoon”
IvankaTrump appears to no longer follow @StephenBannon. (This bot cannot tell if this was an unfollow, suspension or block.)
— Trump Alert (@TrumpsAlert) January 4, 2018
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