Anonymous op-ed writer claims senior Trump officials considered resigning in ‘midnight self-massacre’: book

by Rachel Frazin - 11/07/19 9:41 PM ET

The writer of an anonymous New York Times op-ed last year is claiming in a new book that senior administration officials thought about quitting as a large group in a “midnight self-massacre,” but decided not to out of fear of destabilizing the government, The Washington Post reported.

{mosads}The Post obtained a copy of the book “A Warning” by the writer who is described as “a senior official in the Trump administration.”

The person who wrote the book last year anonymously wrote an op-ed in The New York Times, claiming then that there were efforts from staff to “thwart” President Trump‘s worst instincts.

In the new book, the author pushed back on their former sentiments, writing “I was wrong about the ‘quiet resistance’ inside the Trump administration. Unelected bureaucrats and cabinet appointees were never going to steer Donald Trump the right direction in the long run, or refine his malignant management style. He is who he is,” according to the Post.

The official also reportedly wrote that officials wake up “in a full-blown panic” due to Trump’s tweets.

“It’s like showing up at the nursing home at daybreak to find your elderly uncle running pantsless across the courtyard and cursing loudly about the cafeteria food, as worried attendants tried to catch him,” the author writes.

“You’re stunned, amused, and embarrassed all at the same time. Only your uncle probably wouldn’t do it every single day, his words aren’t broadcast to the public, and he doesn’t have to lead the US government once he puts his pants on,” read the quote from the Post.

The book also reportedly accuses Trump of saying misogynistic and racist things.

“I’ve sat and listened in uncomfortable silence as he talks about a woman’s appearance or performance,” the person wrote, according to the newspaper.

“He comments on makeup. He makes jokes about weight. He critiques clothing. He questions the toughness of women in and around his orbit. He uses words like ‘sweetie’ and ‘honey’ to address accomplished professionals. This is precisely the way a boss shouldn’t act in the work environment,” the author reportedly continued.

Trump is also accused of trying a Hispanic accent while complaining about migrant border crossings.

“We get these women coming in with like seven children,” he said, according to the author. “They are saying, ‘Oh, please help! My husband left me!’ They are useless. They don’t do anything for our country. At least if they came in with a husband we could put him in the fields to pick corn or something.”

The White House has denied there is any truth to the work that has been published, and White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told The Hill in a statement that “the book is nothing but lies.”

In a lengthier email to the Post, she said “The coward who wrote this book didn’t put their name on it because it is nothing but lies.”

“Real authors reach out to their subjects to get things fact checked — but this person is in hiding, making that very basic part of being a real writer impossible. Reporters who choose to write about this farce should have the journalistic integrity to cover the book as what it is — a work of fiction,” she added.

After the author wrote the Times op-ed last year, the White House criticized the newspaper for publishing it. Trump also said at the time that the paper should turn the person over for “national security purposes.”

Tags Donald Trump Stephanie Grisham