Trump angry over ex-aide’s new tell-all book: report
President Trump is reportedly “very pissed off” over a new tell-all book from former communications aide Cliff Sims, who details White House dysfunction and infighting in “Team of Vipers.”
Several current and former White House officials told Politico that Trump is “really hopping mad” over the book and is questioning the validity of the author.
“Who is this guy? Why is he writing this book? He wasn’t even in meetings,” Trump reportedly said Monday.
{mosads}Trump is reportedly contemplating tweeting about the book, dismissing Sims as “the videographer.”
During his roughly 18 months in the Trump administration, Sims served as director of White House message strategy and a special assistant to the president. He left his position last May.
Sims reportedly had frequent time alone with Trump crafting messaging strategy around the 2017 tax reform legislation and worked on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“The president’s close relationship with Sims wasn’t a secret to anyone in the building,” a former administration official told Politico.
A former senior White House official reportedly told Politico that Sims’s book has brought together divided camps of the White House.
“Basically every warring faction has come together,” the official said. “You wouldn’t believe the text chains. The best part is the president is sort of chomping at the bit to tap this guy and tweet something to the effect of, ‘I didn’t know who this guy was. He taped videos.’”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
While Sims’s book is not slated to be published until Tuesday, several leaks and first looks have already been reported by media outlets, including The Hill.
Sims has already appeared on cable news shows Monday and is scheduled to appear on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as part of his official media tour.
Sims writes in his book that he helped Trump craft an “enemies list” of people suspected of leaking information to the press.
He also alleges that Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, once told him he “would be happy if not a single refugee foot ever again touched America’s soil.”
Additionally, Sims described the first time Trump met Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as reminiscent of a scene from the movie “Goodfellas.”
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