Book on Trump reveals casual racism and homophobia
A controversial new book on Donald Trump by a New York Times journalist reveals that an intriguing look into his life from businessman to United States President, from casual racism to homophobia, and fear of dying from Covid-19.
The book, Confidence Man, written by Maggie Haberman chronicles Trump’s time as a New York businessman and life during and after his term as US President.
Haberman said she interviewed Trump three times in the course of writing the book and conducted interviews with over 200 people.
Confidence Man might not offer any real surprises to the public given his often-crass statements and ill-advised comments but the leaked contents do offer some inviting titbits.
The book reveals that Trump thought he was dying of Covid-19, regularly flushed government documents down the toilet, and tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The 76 year old former president denies any of these allegations are true of course.
Trump got infected by coronavirus in October 2020 and he thought he was dying. He was so ill that his deputy chief of staff, Tony Ornato, instructed the president to set up procedures to ensure the continuity of government.
It appears to be ironic given he often played down the pandemic threat in public. He also told the then New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, to not talk about the pandemic on TV.
Trump allegedly said…
“Don’t make such a big deal out of this. You’re going to make it a problem.”
One of the book’s biggest revelations is that Trump called former New York City mayor and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to try and overturn the 2020 US election.
He allegedly said…
“Okay, Rudy, you’re in charge. Go wild, do anything you want. I don’t care.”
Giuliani, and his other lawyers, allegedly refused to overturn the election results, to which he said…
“My lawyers are terrible.”
Trump’s nonpayment of taxes is highlighted in the book, which became a problem when he was running for president in 2016.
His campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, and press secretary Hope Hicks, told him to address his refusal to release his tax returns as they believed the issue could prevent him from becoming president.
Trump apparently replied…
“Well, you know my taxes are under audit, I always get audited. So, what I mean is, well I could just say, ‘I’ll release them when I’m no longer under audit. ‘Cause I’ll never not be under audit.”
Every US President since Richard Nixon has voluntarily released their tax returns. A 2020 New York Times investigation revealed that Trump paid US$750 in federal income taxes the year he became president.
One of the most astonishing claims in Haberman’s book is that Trump was flushing documents down a White House toilet.
Apparently, White House staff regularly found the toilet was clogged with flushed documents.
Tearing up documents contravenes the Presidential Records Act – a law that says documents created or received by a president are the property of the US government and are to be handled by the US National Archives once the presidency ends.
Trump is also facing a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice for keeping government records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office.
The book also logs Trump’s alleged casual racism and homophobia.
Shortly after his 2017 inauguration, Trump allegedly thought a racially diverse group of Democratic staffers were waiters and he asked them to fetch him some canapes.
The book is released today.
