Republican senator Bob Corker: “Republican Senator Says Trump Yet to Demonstrate Needed Stability,” Reuters, August 17, 2017.
And Politico had run a long piece: Nancy Cook and Josh Dawsey, “?‘He Is Stubborn and Doesn’t Realize How Bad This Is Getting,’?” Politico, August 16, 2017.
“President Trump, by asking”: Jeremy W. Peters, Jonathan Martin and Jack Healy, “Trump’s Embrace of Racially Charged Past Puts Republicans in Crisis,” The New York Times, August 16, 2017.
Vice President Mike Pence: View Pence’s tweet at https://twitter.com/vp/status/896471461669605376.
“Off the record,” Trump said: Author review of contemporaneous notes by a participant.
Bannon had just given an interview: Robert Kuttner, “Steve Bannon, Unrepentant,” The American Prospect, August 16, 2017.
A nationally televised Afghanistan strategy speech: Donald J. Trump: “Address to the Nation on United States Strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia,” August 21, 2017. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=126842.
John McCain commented: “McCain on the New Strategy for Afghanistan,” August 21, 2017.
Democratic senator and Clinton running mate: “Kaine: U.S. Must Be ‘Invested’ in Afghanistan,” Talking Points Memo, August 21, 2017.
He addressed the Taliban: Aaron Blake, “Rex Tillerson Totally Undercut Trump’s ‘We Will Win’ Rhetoric on Afghanistan,” The Washington Post, August 22, 2017.
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The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.
Trump had in his hands: Author obtained document.
Trump assembled a group: Author review of contemporaneous notes by a participant.
Trump announced the end: Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Trump Moves to End DACA and Calls on Congress to Act,” The New York Times, September 5, 2017.
Two days later he tried to calm: View Trump’s tweet at https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/905788459301908480.
CHAPTER 33
The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.
Trump had finally agreed to sign: Donald J. Trump, “Memorandum on Addressing China’s Laws, Policies, Practices, and Actions Related to Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Technology,” August 14, 2017. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=128023.
In his public remarks: Donald J. Trump, “Remarks on Signing a Memorandum on Addressing China’s Laws, Policies, Practices, and Actions Related to Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Technology and an Exchange with Reporters,” August 14, 2017. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=128022. Note that Trump delivered these remarks on August 14, the same day as his second set of remarks on Charlottesville. His Charlottesville speech was at 12:40 p.m. and his remarks on China were at 3:06 p.m.
Kelly decided he was going to assert: Author review of contemporaneous notes by a participant.
CHAPTER 34
The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.
In May he said he would be: Ashley Parker and Anne Gearan, “President Trump Says He Would Be ‘Honored’ to Meet with North Korean Dictator,” The Washington Post, May 1, 2017.
In August he told the press: Donald J. Trump, “Remarks Prior to a Briefing on the Opioid Crisis and an Exchange with Reporters in Bedminster, New Jersey,” August 8, 2017. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=127991.
But the president summed up his position: “Excerpts from Trump’s Interview with the Times,” interview conducted by Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times, December 28, 2017.
On September 19, 2017, President Trump gave: Donald. J. Trump, “Remarks to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City,” September 19, 2017. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=128326.
Kim fired back three days later: “Full Text of Kim Jong-un’s Response to President Trump,” The New York Times, September 22, 2017.
In a tweet on September 23: View Trump’s tweet at https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/911789314169823232.
For weeks, Tillerson had been: Arit John and Mark Niquette, “Tillerson Vows ‘Peaceful Pressure Campaign’ Against North Korea,” Bloomberg, September 17, 2017.
On October 1, months after Tillerson: View Trump’s tweets at https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/914497877543735296; https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/914497947517227008.
In November, Trump saw Chris Crane: See Crane’s letter summarizing the ICE agents’ complaints at https://jicreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/POTUS-Ltr-11_13_2017.pdf.
The nomination was sent to the Senate: Ashley Parker and Matt Zapotosky, “Trump Taps Kirstjen Nielsen to Lead Department of Homeland Security,” The Washington Post, October 11, 2017.
The president saw that Fox News: Andrew Restuccia and Eliana Johnson, “Advisers Bad-Mouth Nielsen as a ‘Never Trumper,’?” Politico, May 11, 2018.
At her confirmation hearing: Ibid.
Kelly appeared on Fox News’s Bret Baier: Sophie Tatum, “Kelly on Immigration: Trump ‘Has Changed the Way He’s Looked at a Number of Things,’?” CNN, January 17, 2018.
“I talked with the president”: Author review of contemporaneous notes by a participant.
“I’m the only thing protecting the president”: Ibid.
In a small group meeting in his office: Ibid.
CHAPTER 35
The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.
Cohn knew that was crazy: A leaked copy of Trump’s 2005 tax return showed he had paid $38 million on more than $150 million income for that year—a rate of about 25 percent. View the document at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/14/us/politics/document-Donald-Trump-2005-Tax.html.
As the tax negotiations intensified: Saleha Mohsin, “Mnuchin Crosses the U.S. Trying to Sell the GOP Tax Plan,” Bloomberg, November 16, 2017.
During the 2012 presidential campaign: Molly Moorhead, “Mitt Romney Says 47 Percent of Americans Pay No Income Tax,” PolitiFact, September 18, 2012.
While most of the 44 percent: Roberton C. Williams, “A Closer Look at Those Who Pay No Income or Payroll Taxes,” Tax Policy Center, July 11, 2016.
Their income was so low: In 2013 the EITC cost the federal Treasury $63 billion, according to PolitiFact. The Child Tax Credit cost $57 billion in 2013 according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The bill, however, would reduce taxes: Howard Gleckman, “How the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Evolved,” Tax Policy Center, December 28, 2017.
Republican leaders and Trump celebrated: Donald J. Trump, “Remarks on Congressional Passage of Tax Reform Legislation,” December 20, 2017. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=129018.
CHAPTER 36
The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.
In a long statement, rather than a tweet: Donald J. Trump, “Statement on Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon,” January 3, 2018. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=128962.
Bannon was appalled by: The National Security Strategy may be viewed online at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf.