Key Messages
Get An Inside Look At The Trump Administration: How Did Trump Take To His Job And Why Has Fire And Fury Sparked A Media Storm?
With Fire and Fury, you get an insider’s pass to the West Wing of Trump’s White House.
Michael Wolff’s lengthy investigations into the Trump administration paints a behind-the-scenes picture of how the President has taken to his job – from figuring out who exactly Jarvanka is to discovering why he issues so many executive orders.
You’ll also read about Wolff’s take on who the main figures are in this book, how they interact with each other, and what many of them really think about Donald Trump.
It’s a remarkable look at how Trump went from an unlikely presidential candidate in June 2015 to become one of most powerful people in America today.
This is your chance to see why this book caused such a media storm upon its publication.
Donald Trump’S Unexpected Presidential Victory Came As A Shock To Everyone, Including Himself
When Donald Trump won the US presidential election in 2016, it was a shock to everyone – including Trump himself.
Both he and his campaign members didn’t expect that he would get such an overwhelming victory, so they weren’t at all prepared for what lay ahead.
Trump kept telling Melania that things were going to go back to normal in November, but almost no one involved in his campaign believed it would be possible.
They were preparing their post-campaign lives and making plans for their next moves; even Paul Manafort only agreed to help manage the campaign because he thought there was no chance of winning.
The proof of how unprepared Donald Trump was for this moment is that many of his staff were ill-prepared and ill-equipped to handle the scrutiny of being in the White House.
His real estate holdings, along with the backgrounds and transactions of some associates like Manafort, weren’t fit enough to withstand the public eyes.
The only person who had an inkling that something good might come out of this election was Steve Bannon, whose polls showed somewhat good numbers.
Everyone else’s surprise showed just how little faith they had put into expecting success from this election – and yet, here we are today.
Kushner Family’S Middle East Agenda Conflicts With Bannon’S Trumpism Vision
Those in Donald Trump’s inner circle of advisors were constantly at odds with one another.
Steve Bannon wanted to steer the President away from globalism and towards economic nationalism while Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump strived for bold policies that could please Democrats and improve Israel-Palestine relations.
Bannon referred to the couple as “Javanka” and sarcastically labelled them “the geniuses,” due to their disagreement on direction for the Trump presidency.
He suggested a trade war with China and ending involvement in Middle East conflicts whereas they were deeply involved in such matters, with strong connections to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Henry Kissinger, and various business people.
Needless to say, Bannon found it humorous when President Trump asserted that Jared would be the next Kissinger.
Regardless of their differences, these influential figures – both Jared & Ivanka as well as Steve Bannon – were all caught by surprise when they realized how unmanageable Donald Trump can ultimately be during his time as president.
Steve Bannon’s Use Of Executive Orders Showed His Desire To Dominate The Political Arena Through Shock And Awe Tactics
The first days of the Trump presidency have been marked by a clear attempt to dominate the political arena rather than negotiate.
Led by Steve Bannon, then-Chief Strategist for the White House, Trump’s administration used executive orders (EOs) to bypass congress and showcase their power.
Bannon had hopes of using 200 EOs in the first 100 days alone.
This move was not only chosen in an effort to leave bureaucracy behind, but also because none of those leading the charge knew how to create policy or write official documents any other way.
This would be a noticeable theme under Bannon and Trump’s rule, as shown by their swift issuance of the immigration ban barring people from certain Muslim majority nations on January 27th.
Bannon’s Breitbart media background had kindled a fervor against regulations and Muslims while being pro-Christian – an idea he brought with him into Trump’s vision of America.
As part of that support group, one can easily assume that when Trump said people would continue supporting him even if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue, these believers were his primary focus.
Team Jarvanka Versus Bannon: The Battle For Trump’S Soul In An Increasingly Toxic White House
The Trump administration was a powder keg of tension from the very first week in office.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump had taken positions at the White House despite warnings from their friends, believing that it was their best shot at safeguarding against unchecked Trumpism and reigning in some of President Trump’s worst impulses.
That meant presenting him with the alternative to Bannon’s radical approach.
Steve Bannon had learned early on his power with the president — if he could be the last person to speak before President Trump made a decision, it would drastically increase chances of Trump taking his opinion more seriously.
This tug-of-war between Bannon’s aggressive agenda and Kushner and Ivanka’s efforts to make the White House an unimposing place caused chaos within — leading to a clear conflict between what came to be known as ‘Bannonites’ and ‘Jarvankaists.’
In an effort to win back favor for Jarvanka, two Goldman Sachs stalwarts, Gary Cohn and Dina Powell, joined the administration.
Hopeful that they could have a positive influence on the situation in spite of understanding what they were getting themselves into, they helped create a momentary false impression of presidential decorum during one joint session speech – known as “the Goldman Speech”.
The Firing Of Fbi Director James Comey Reveals Trump’S Troubling Interactions With The Russia Investigation
The firing of FBI director James Comey by Donald Trump in May 2017 marked a turning point for the Trump administration.
This move was prompted by reports that the Russians had meddled in the 2016 election and the Steele Dossier which hinted at a possible conflict of interest between Trump and Russia.
Jared Kushner, one of Trump’s closest advisors, advised him to fire Comey and even provided him with a list of reasons why this should be done, including the handling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.
However, Chief Strategist Steve Bannon disagreed and felt that this would only make things worse.
Despite Bannon’s warnings, Trump proceeded with his plan – sparking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to insist on having sufficient evidence in order to justify such an action.
After much back and forth, Trump eventually gave Comey his marching orders without warning on May 10th, leaving Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to quickly give a legitimate reason for the firing.
To restore justice, Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to formally investigate any potential conflict between Trump and Russia.
Trump’s Refusal To Read Leads To Poor Decision Making
One of the key issues that Fire and Fury reveals about President Trump is his inability to process information in the way you’d expect of a world leader.
Not only does Trump not read, but he apparently doesn’t think he has to, which has caused the White House staff to ponder whether or not he has dyslexia or another reading deficiency.
This caused a challenge when his administration was faced with deciding how to respond to an April 2017 chemical weapons attack in Syria which had killed many children.
While General H.R.
McMaster tried to brief him on the situation and appropriate response, Trump seemed more upset at having to think through Syria than he did at the attack itself.
Bannon then took up this cause, suggesting that they break from usual protocol and not intervene in Syria, as there had been other occasions where more children had died and America stood idle then too.
This transactional thinking appealed to the dealmaker in Trump and Ivanka eventually convinced her father on a Tomahawk missile strike by presenting him with a video of footage from Syria, much leveraging his aversion for reading documents about pressing issues.
The Danger Of Donald Trump’S Unfiltered Impulses And The Consequences It Could Bring
The Fire and Fury book summary really hits home the truth about Donald Trump Jr’s fateful meeting in Trump Tower.
It started when Trump was fuming over the Russia investigation, and despite warnings from his advisor Steve Bannon, which included not replacing Jeff Sessions or Robert Mueller, he contemplated to do it anyway.
Things took a turn when Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were in Hamburg for the G20 Summit and news broke out of a secret meeting between Donald Jr., Russian lobbyists, a Kremlin-linked lawyer, associates of the Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov, with Donald Sr.
at Trump Tower.
By then Bannon already knew that Donald’s two sons weren’t very bright but they still failed to keep the meeting discreet by meeting in a motel as expected.
When pressed for answers regarding the meeting while on Air Force One, Hope Hicks also got involved by coming up with an inaccurate response claiming it was only about “adoption policy in Russia” even though legal counsel warned them of obstructing justice.
Ultimately this has opened up even more ties to Russia and certainly made plenty of bad decisions on the part of the Trump family.
Bannon’s Final Straw: Trump’s Uncontrollable Behavior And Lack Of Responsibility
When it comes to the presidency of Donald J.
Trump, his own words often do more harm than good.
For example, his early morning Twitter rants tend to stir up controversy, yet when asked about them, he has a tendency to play them off as no big deal.
The same can be said for his impromptu speeches, which have at times gone off the rails from their intended messages.
However, one particular incident stands out even more so: when he gave an interview with the New York Times and told Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself and directed Robert Muller not to look into his family’s finances.
Bannon was left horrified by this episode and saw it as evidence of Trump’s undisciplined approach to politics.
This eventually led Bannon’s firing by Trump and now preparing for the next step in presidential politics.
Wrap Up
The final summary of Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff is that Donald Trump’s win, although surprising to many, was not a victory in the traditional sense.
The campaign was never intended to deliver a true presidential victory, but rather, it was merely an effective way to leverage the world’s biggest stage in order to promote Trump’s own brand.
Furthermore, while Trump may have had the power to bring his colleagues together under a common goal, he lacked the political experience and knowledge needed to craft worthy and lasting policy decisions.
This has left America with an administration overflowing with corruption and wasted power grabs.
