In President George W. Bush’s last year in office, his former press secretary, Scott McClellan, wrote a tell-all book concluding that the Iraq war was a “serious strategic blunder” based on the “ambition, certitude and self-deceit” of a White House that was not fully honest with the American people.
The president’s remaining advisers were livid at what they considered the betrayal of an aide who had been with Mr. Bush since his Texas days. But when Dana Perino, who then held the same spokesman’s job, expressed her indignation, Mr. Bush sighed and told her to find a way to forgive Mr. McClellan or risk being consumed by anger.
.. while the White House and various others challenge the accuracy of specific episodes in the book, its broader portrayal largely squares with the journalistic coverage of the past year based on the president’s own staff.
.. Mr. Bannon is quoted in the book saying things that other advisers have said confidentially for months — that the president is stunningly undisciplined with no patience or interest in learning and driven by intemperate, sometimes absurd motivations. At one point, Mr. Bannon describes Mr. Trump acting “like a 9-year-old,” an observation that has power not because it was unique to those who worked for the president but because it is now on the record in Mr. Bannon’s name.
.. Mr. Trump, of all presidents, should know what to expect given his predilection for making employees sign nondisclosure agreements, a practice he brought from the private sector to his 2016 campaign and the subsequent presidential transition.
.. Mr. Stephanopoulos’s former White House colleagues stayed away from the launch party lest they risk Mr. Clinton’s ire.
.. Mr. Panetta was pushed out. The second was a more respectful but at times unflattering portrayal of his experiences as C.I.A. director and defense secretary for Barack Obama, whom he deemed smart but vacillating and overly cautious.
.. As aggravated as Mr. Trump may be with Mr. Bannon’s apostasy and Mr. Wolff’s book, he may need to get used to it. Just one year in, Mr. Trump faces many years of books to come.
.. Mr. Trump may have more to wonder about with Omarosa Manigault Newman
.. she had seen things “that have upset me.” She added ominously, “It is a profound story that I know the world will want to hear.”
.. Mr. Comey has a different understanding of the meaning of loyalty than the president does. His book is due out on May 1. Its title: “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership.”