Key aides tried to talk President Trump out of threatening legal action against Michael Wolff's new book, Fire and Fury, and "lawyers laughed: Does Trump really want to give discovery to Michael Wolff?" Axios reports, but nevertheless, he persisted, insisting on "a tactic he frequently used in business — rattling cages with lawyers' letters that resulted in no actual legal action." Now that Wolff's publisher, Henry Holt, responded to Trump's demand that it cease publication by moving up the publication date to Friday morning, Trump is "so furious" that "some aides are just trying to avoid him," Axios says. On Friday's Today show, Wolff wasn't upset at Trump's legal threat, asking, "Where do I send the box of chocolates?"
"Not only is he helping me sell books, but he’s proving the point of the book," Wolff told NBC's Savannah Guthrie. "This is extraordinary that a president of the United States would try to stop the publication of a book." No other president has ever tried this, he said, and it "would not even happen from the CEO of a midsize company." Watch below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to 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.
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffsSpeed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officialsSpeed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firingsspeed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partnersSpeed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US borderSpeed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked callSpeed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side dealThe pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
