The world is preparing for Trump’s wrath — or, at least, for a randomly capitalised Twitter spiel — after news that the anonymous author of a scathing column berating Trump’s “petty and ineffective” leadership style is now releasing a book.
A Warning, allegedly written by a senior government official whose identity is still unknown, expands on an op-ed by the same author published in The New York Times last year.
“His impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back … It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room,” the author wrote in September 2018.
Trump was livid at the piece, demanding NYT release the identity of the author. “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!” the president tweeted.
While Trump hasn’t publicly acknowledged the book, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham mocked it. “It takes a lot of conviction and bravery to write a whole book anonymously,” she said.
A Warning will be published on November 19. Publishing house Twelve labels it as an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of the Trump presidency”. The author is represented by Matt Latimer and Keith Urbahn who represented the work of former FBI director James Comey.
Crikey is committed to hosting lively discussions. Help us keep the conversation useful, interesting and welcoming. We aim to publish comments quickly in the interest of promoting robust conversation, but we’re a small team and we deploy filters to protect against legal risk. Occasionally your comment may be held up while we review, but we’re working as fast as we can to keep the conversation rolling.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please subscribe to leave a comment.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please login to leave a comment.