Donald Trump says a book containing damaging allegations about his administration is “full of lies”.
The book cites former top aide Steve Bannon as describing a meeting with a group of Russians at which Mr Trump’s son was present as “treasonous”.
It also portrays Mr Trump as being surprised by winning the presidency.
Mr Trump’s lawyers had tried to block publication of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff, which has now gone on sale early.
What’s in the book?
Mr Wolff’s book makes many claims, including that:
- The Trump team was shocked and horrified by his election win
- His wife, Melania, was in tears of sadness on election night
- Mr Trump was angry that A-list stars had snubbed his inauguration
- The new president “found the White House to be vexing and even a little scary”
- His daughter, Ivanka, had a plan with her husband, Jared Kushner, that she would be “the first woman president”
- Ivanka Trump mocked her dad’s “comb-over” hairstyle and “often described the mechanics behind it to friends”
The book is reportedly based on more than 200 interviews but some of the book’s excerpts have already been criticised and questioned.
Still, even if only half of what the book contains is true, it paints a damning portrait of a paranoid president and a chaotic White House, BBC North America editor Jon Sopel says.
Mr Bannon also reportedly said, referring to a Trump Tower meeting between top campaign officials and Russia: “They’re going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.”
The meeting, which involved Mr Trump’s eldest child Donald Trump Jr, is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of his inquiry into possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russia to win the election.
Source: BBC
