President Trump on Wednesday offered a fiery response to bombshell reports that Steve Bannon, his former chief strategist, had accused the president of meeting with Russian operatives after Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with them at Trump Tower in June 2016. (HuffPost)
President Trump said in a statement on Wednesday that when Bannon was fired, “he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.” A new book by writer Michael Wolff offers a series of explosive revelations, including that Trump never expected to win the 2016 presidential race. An excerpt published by The Guardian says Bannon described the Trump Tower meeting as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.” (THR / AP)
Wolff wrote that 21st Century Fox executive co-chairman Rupert Murdoch referred to Trump as “a f*cking idiot” at one point over his seemingly contradictory views on immigration policy. The comments were apparently made by Murdoch after a phone conversation between the two men that took place in December 2016, during the presidential transition. (TVNewser)
The continued question about the book’s revelations is sure to bring more attention—and more book sales—for Wolff, who in the space of a day not only ignited the news cycle but may have set the stage for a civil war between Trump and former advisor Steven Bannon, though Bannon himself declared Wednesday night that he still supports Trump and considers him a “great man.” (WaPo)