President Trump on Friday night taunted the author of a new book about his White House and his former chief strategist who is quoted in it, despite the successful release of the book earlier in the day.
His comments further escalated his rhetoric against Stephen Bannon, previously a close aide, who has fallen out of favor with the White House after reported comments in the book.
“Michael Wolff is a total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book. He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job. Now Sloppy Steve has been dumped like a dog by almost everyone. Too bad!” the president tweeted.
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Wolff is the author of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” which the White House says is full of lies about the Trump presidency.
Wolff wrote the book based on months of access. In it, he quotes Bannon, then a close Trump aide, making disparaging remarks about Trump and his family and casting doubt on the legality of a controversial Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 between members of Trump’s family acting as campaign aides and Russian officials.
The White House started calling Bannon a “fired employee” following the release of the book and began chipping away at his credibility. When Bannon left the White House in August, Trump called him a “good man” and the two have spoken several times since while Bannon remained active in politics. In September, Bannon called himself Trump’s “wing man outside” the White House.
Following the release of the book excerpts this week, Bannon’s biggest financial backer, billionaire heiress Rebekah Mercer, distanced herself from him and the reported comments.
Members of the Mercer family are part-owners of Breitbart News, where Bannon is executive chairman. His future at that conservative news organization is reportedly in doubt as well.
Trump had also taunted Bannon for losing the Mercers’s support earlier that day.
“Fire and Fury” was released Friday, earlier than originally planned, after Trump sent a cease-and-desist letter to its publisher attempting to block publication. It is the No. 1 seller on Amazon and sold out in minutes at several Washington, D.C., bookstores.