A new excerpt suggests that Donald Trump almost fired his daughter and son-in-law from their White House advisory roles via Twitter on Wednesday.
A Washington Post excerpt from Maggie Haberman’s forthcoming book “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and The Breaking of America” describes how the former president went out of his way to drive a wedge between his notoriously volatile staff.
According to the report, this included repeated efforts to have then-chief of staff John Kelly fire Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
In addition, Haberman asserts that as president, Trump would stun even high-ranking officials, such as his Pentagon chief, with suggestions such as bombing ‘Mexican drug labs’ to stop the flow of illegal drugs through the southwestern border of the United States.
The excerpt from the Post reads, “He raised it several times, eventually asking a stunned Defense Secretary Mark Esper if the United States could indeed bomb the labs.”
Trump reportedly stated that ‘lead to target’ would solve the illegal drug crisis.
The forthcoming book by New York Times journalists paints a very different picture of the apparent close relationship between the former president and his relatives-turned-White House advisers.
In meetings with Kelly and [White House Counsel Don] McGahn, Trump instructed Kelly and McGahn to essentially fire Ivanka and Jared, according to the book.
Reportedly, Donald Trump attempted to drive a wedge between staff members in his notoriously turbulent White House.
This included exerting pressure on former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and former White House Counsel Don McGahn to dismiss his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
However, the officials reportedly feared Trump would abandon them if his children fought for their jobs.
Haberman asserts that Trump was about to post on Twitter that his daughter and son-in-law were leaving the White House.
Kelly stopped him, stating that Trump had to speak to them directly first. Trump agreed, but he never continued the conversation.
It is unclear when the exchanges occurred, but McGahn and Kelly both left the White House in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
According to reports, Trump also accused his former attorney Rudy Giuliani of promoting his election fraud claims. “All right, Rudy, you’re in charge.” Go wild, do anything you want. I don’t care.’
The revelations come from a forthcoming book by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman about Trump’s rise in the business world and then politics.
Giuliani is currently embroiled in multiple legal investigations and a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems.
A second excerpt obtained by the Daily Beast suggests that Trump made an offensive remark about transgender genitalia in 2016 while preparing for a debate with Hillary Clinton.
To prepare for the town hall-style forum, Trump’s then-advisor Reince Priebus pretended to be a female transgender student and asked Trump whether the student should be permitted to use the girls’ bathroom.
Trump inquired as to whether the student possessed a penis.
‘C***ed or dec***ed?’ he allegedly asked.
Upon encountering “blank” confusion, he allegedly attempted to explain himself using a “chopping gesture.”
“C*** with or without c***?” Trump asked again.
When advisers questioned why it mattered what the student’s genitalia were, the former president responded, “What if a girl was in the bathroom and someone entered, lifted up her skirt, and a schlong was exposed?”
According to Haberman’s book, Trump has a long history of homophobic and hypersexualized comments, with many believing he was ‘trying to shock’ in his interactions.
According to a more recent excerpt, he went out of his way to emphasize his former adviser Jason Miller’s heterosexuality.
During a meeting with them and former Vice President Mike Pence, he reportedly said Miller “likes the ladies.”
‘You know how sometimes a person later comes out as gay and you already knew? This individual is not even one percent homosexual,’ Trump reportedly said of Miller.
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