New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman unveiled the name and title of her book on former President Donald Trump on Thursday, and Axios, which says Haberman's Confidence Man will be "the book Trump fears most," got a sneak peak at some of her discoveries. Trump, for instance, reportedly has told people he has kept in contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since leaving office. But the most eye-catching scoop involves clogged toilets.
Whiile Trump was in office, White House residence staff would occasionally discover wads of printed paper clogging a toilet and believed Trump had tried to flush it down, Axios reports, citing Haberman's book. Trump was, at times, fixated on toilets that wouldn't flush, as The Washington Post's Philip Bump noted.
Axios calls Trump's reputed toilet-clogging "a vivid new dimension to his lapses in preserving government documents," a polite nod to the 15 boxes of papers the National Archives had to retrieve from Mar-a-Lago last month to put Trump in compliance with the Presidential Records Act, his possible mishandling of classified documents, and his habit of ripping up papers after reading them, among other long-reported compliance issues.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Top White House officials were so "deeply concerned" about Trump's handling of sensitive national security material that one of this chiefs of staff, John Kelly, "tried to stop classified documents from being taken out of the Oval Office and brought up to the residence because he was concerned about what Mr. Trump may do with them and how that may jeopardize national security," the Times reported Wednesday.
Former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman wrote in her 2018 Trump White House book, Unhinged, that she saw Trump "put a note in his mouth" in the Oval Office "appeared to be chewing and swallowing the paper," a shocking action for a famous "germaphobe."
You can read more about Haberman's reporting at Axios. Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America comes out Oct. 4.
-
Why are Trump's health rumors about more than just presidential fitness?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Extended absences and unexplained bruises have raised concerns about both his well-being and his administration's transparency
-
Earth's seasons have gone wackadoodleUnder the radar It may have impacted biodiversity and evolution
-
How much does it cost to move? Here's how to budget and save.the explainer Factors like move distance and the weight of your furnishings can affect the total cost — but there are several ways to economize
-
Why are Trump's health rumors about more than just presidential fitness?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Extended absences and unexplained bruises have raised concerns about both his well-being and his administration's transparency
-
'The McDonald's menu board is one fascinating thing'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
-
Florida aims to end all state vaccine requirementsSpeed Read Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to cut vaccine access and install anti-vaccine activists at the FDA and CDC
