Trump Exposé "Fire And Fury" Sells Over 1.7 Million Copies

This is sure to drive Donald Trump out of his "very stable genius" mind.

Nonfiction books rarely hit the 'million units sold' mark very quickly, Michael Wolff's Donald Trump exposé, Fire and Fury: Inside The Trump White House, has surpassed that benchmark by a long shot in less than three weeks.

Via ABC News:

"Fire and Fury" has sold more than 1.7 million copies in the combined formats of hardcover, e-books and audio, publisher Henry Holt & Co. told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Published less than three weeks ago, Wolff's tell-all about the Trump administration remains No. 1 on Amazon.com and other lists.

NPD BookScan, which tracks around 85 percent of sales for physical books, told the AP on Wednesday that its numbers for "Fire and Fury" rose for the third straight week. "Fire and Fury" sold more than 300,000 copies last week, according to BookScan, and more than 500,000 copies overall as retailers are finally catching up with demand. NPD BookScan does not register a sale until the book has actually been sent to the customer.

John Sargent, CEO of Holt's parent company MacMillan, has said that e-books sales for "Fire and Fury" exceed 250,000 copies and more than 100,000 have been sold in audio.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

Tweet Of The Day

Steve Bannon Backtracks On "Fire And Fury" Statements, Regrets Delay In Responding

Axios reports that beleaguered former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has issued a statement of "regret" regarding statements he made that have been quoted in Michael Wolff's explosive new exposé, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

Via Axios:

"Donald Trump, Jr. is both a patriot and a good man. He has been relentless in his advocacy for his father and the agenda that has helped turn our country around."

"My support is also unwavering for the president and his agenda — as I have shown daily in my national radio broadcasts, on the pages of Breitbart News and in speeches and appearances from Tokyo and Hong Kong to Arizona and Alabama."

"President Trump was the only candidate that could have taken on and defeated the Clinton apparatus. I am the only person to date to conduct a global effort to preach the message of Trump and Trumpism; and remain ready to stand in the breach for this president's efforts to make America great again."

"My comments about the meeting with Russian nationals came from my life experiences as a Naval officer stationed aboard a destroyer whose main mission was to hunt Soviet submarines to my time at the Pentagon during the Reagan years when our focus was the defeat of 'the evil empire' and to making films about Reagan's war against the Soviets and Hillary Clinton's involvement in selling uranium to them."

"My comments were aimed at Paul Manafort, a seasoned campaign professional with experience and knowledge of how the Russians operate. He should have known they are duplicitous, cunning and not our friends. To reiterate, those comments were not aimed at Don Jr."

"Everything I have to say about the ridiculous nature of the Russian 'collusion' investigation I said on my 60 Minutes interview. There was no collusion and the investigation is a witch hunt."

"I regret that my delay in responding to the inaccurate reporting regarding Don Jr has diverted attention from the president's historical accomplishments in the first year of his presidency."

Not sure how Bannon squares his statements about the Trump Tower/Russian meeting as being about Paul Manafort when he clearly said, according to Wolff, "They’re going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.'"

After five days of hammering from @POTUS and his allies, it’s Bannon who “cracked like a soft egg.”
Sloppy Steve just became Sorry Steve.https://t.co/JMV8LlZ4Fj

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) January 7, 2018

TRANSLATION of Steve Bannon's regret statement: As a Naval Officer who hunted Soviet submarines, I am confirming again that the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Manafort, Kushner, @DonaldJTrumpJr & the Russians was treasonous. But I only meant Manafort is a traitor. https://t.co/SOr975noy6

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 7, 2018

So Bannon is admitting he use the word “treasonous…”

But just that it applied it to Trumps campaign manager, not his son.

Brilliant, Sloppy Steve. pic.twitter.com/ysP1M6gxti

— Lee Stranahan (@stranahan) January 7, 2018

So, is #SteveBannon a cuck now? Am I using the word correctly? I'm so confused.

— Darren Hayes (@darrenhayes) January 7, 2018

Author Michael Wolff: Trump Has "Less Credibility Than Perhaps Any Man Who Has Ever Walked On Earth"

Speaking with The Today Show's Savannah Guthrie, author Michael Wolff defended his new book Fire and Fury: Inside The Trump White House saying he stands by "absolutely everything" he wrote in the explosive expose.

“I absolutely spoke to the president. Whether he realized it was an interview or not, I don’t know, but it certainly was not off the record,” said Wolff, author of "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," which was published Friday, four days ahead of the original release date after headlines about the book generated massive interest.

Wolff said he spent about three hours with Trump, both during the campaign and after his inauguration, for his book. But he also spoke to his key aides, “people who spoke to the president on a daily, sometimes minute by minute basis.”

"My creditably is being questioned by a man who has less credibility than perhaps anyone who has ever walked on Earth at this point," he said.

"I have recordings, I have notes, I am certainly and absolutely in every way comfortable with everything I have reported," he said, noting that after writing "millions" of words in media columns and other books, "I don't think there has ever been one correction."

Watch Wolff's full interview below.

By the way, Trump says he never authorized Wolff's access to the White house or spoke to the author. And yet, Wolff visited and interviewed White House staff for months.

How can Trump keep America secure if he can't keep his own White House secure?

I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist. Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018

Say what you will about the myriad failings of @realDonaldTrump, but his literacy campaign around #fireandfurybook is a smashing success, not since Harry Potter have so many Americans been reading so intently.

— Jonathan Schultz (@NilVeritas) January 5, 2018

Trump Attempts To Block Publication Of Behind-The-Scenes White House Exposé

It comes as no surprise that Donald Trump is attempting to block the publication of the explosive, upcoming book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” by journalist Michael Wolff.

From The Washington Post:

The legal notice — addressed to author Michael Wolff and the president of the book’s publisher — said Trump’s lawyers were pursuing possible charges including libel in connection with the forthcoming book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”

The letter by Beverly Hills-based attorney Charles J. Harder demanded the publisher, Henry Holt and Co., “immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination of the book” or excerpts and summaries of its contents. The lawyers also seek a full copy of the book as part of their investigation.

The latest twist in the showdown came after lawyers accused Bannon of breaching a confidentiality agreement and Trump denounced his former aide as a self-aggrandizing political charlatan who has “lost his mind.”

It's worth noting that Wolff has already made public he has hours and hours of recorded interviews with the folks he interviewed including Bannon and former White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh.

Trump has also reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to his former chief strategist Steve Bannon in regard to numerous inflammatory statements he made to Wolff in the book. Trump claims Bannon breached a nondisclosure agreement in speaking with Wolff.

I've already ordered my copy of the book due out January 9.

Color me skeptical that Trump will actually sue either Bannon on Wolff. Remember that they will get discovery if he does. https://t.co/JQWW9KtvPI

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 4, 2018

Trump on Bannon: "He called me a great man last night. He obviously changed his tune pretty quick. ... I don't talk to him. I don't talk to him. That's just a misnomer" pic.twitter.com/4IHk7FZPBa

— David Mack (@davidmackau) January 4, 2018