Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff mocks Donald Trump as bombshell book goes on sale despite threat to sue
TRUMP author Michael Wolff claims "100 per cent" of those around the President question his intelligence and ability to do the job with some dubbing him a "moron".
His controversial book - Fire and Fury - paints a derogatory portrait of the US leader describing him as an undisciplined man-child who didn't even want to win the race to the White House.
"They all say he is like a child. And what they mean like that is a need for immediate gratification. It's all about him," Wolff told the 'Today' programmes in the States.
"They say he's a moron, an idiot."
People queued up in book stores across the States to be the first to get their hands on a copy of the book - which Trump said was full of "lies, misrepresentations and sources that don't exist" as he threatened to sue.
“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...” Trump tweeted.
However, Wolff insisted that he “absolutely spoke to the president” while working on Fire and Fury.
“Whether he realised it was an interview or not, I don’t know, but it certainly was not off the record,” Wolff said.
“I’ve spent about three hours with the president over the course of the campaign, and in the White House. So, my window into Donald Trump is pretty significant.”
The White House has already slapped down speculation that the president is "unfit" for office after revelations in the book were leaked.
"It's disgraceful and laughable. If he was unfit he probably wouldn't be sitting there, wouldn't have defeated the most qualified group of candidates the Republican Party has ever seen," said his press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
What the controversial book 'Fire and Fury' has claimed
- The President sleeps in separate bedrooms to wife Melania
- The secret service stopped him putting a lock on his bedroom door
- Nobody is allowed to touch his toothbrush over poisoning fears
- The Don claims the Billy Bush 'P****ygate' tape could be fake
- The Trump team was shocked and horrified by his election win
- His wife Melania was in tears of sadness on election night
- Trump was angry that A-list stars snubbed his inauguration
- The new president "found the White House 'a little scary'
- Ivanka has a plan to become 'first woman president'
- Ivanka mocked her dad's bizarre 'comb-over' hairstyle
- Trump would point out his staff's flaws after hanging up the phone on them
- Trump eats McDonald’s out of paranoia and because he is a germaphobe
- As a candidate, Trump has no interest in learning about the Constitution
- The travel ban was passed on a Friday so 'snowflakes' would protest at airports
- The President never reads 'in any conventional sense
- The US leader would mention getting into bed with other women
- Trump would share private info about himself, then get thr hump when it leaked
“This author is quite frankly a crackpot fake news fantasy fiction writer,” deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said on CNN.
Wolff responded on Friday morning: “My credibility is being questioned by a man who has less credibility than, perhaps, anyone who has ever walked on Earth at this point.”
Wolff told the that the President is increasingly forgetful, often repeats himself and fails to recognise old friends.
Mr Wolff said it was "extraordinary" that the president of the US would try to stop publication of his book, a move that "the CEO of a mid-sized company" would not attempt.
Trump's hard-hitting lawyer Charles J. Harder earlier issued a cease and desist letter to block the release - while asking for a copy for themselves.
But despite the threats, publisher Henry Holt and Co. has decided to release the book four days ahead of schedule.
The book hit the shelves at 9am Eastern Time today - 2pm in the UK .
Wolff's book is reportedly based on 200 interviews with White House staffers and members of Trump's election campaign team, including Steve Bannon.
The litany of bombshell claims in the book include that First Lady Melania "cried" when Trump won the election.
Other claims within the book include that Trump and his campaign team "didn't actually want to win the election" and that the President "eats cheeseburgers in bed while watching three TVs at once".
Another said that Trump's daughter, Ivanka, sought to become the "first woman president" - a plan she concocted with her husband Jared Kushner.
In response to claims that Trump never actually wanted to win the US presidency, Ms Sanders said: "It is absolutely laughable to to think that somebody like this president would run for office with the purpose of losing.
"If you guys know anything, you know that Donald Trump is a winner and he's not going to do something for the purpose of not coming out on top and not coming out as a winner it's just, that's one of the most ridiculous claims in the book."
Harder, who is representing the President’s private company the Trump Organisation, already blasted former White House strategist Bannon for collaborating with Wolff.
The lawyer accused the Breitbart chief of breaching confidentiality, insisting legal action was “imminent.”
A letter to Bannon read: “You have breached the Agreement by, among other things, communicating with author Michael Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members, and the Company,
The letter continued: “…disclosing Confidential Information to Mr. Wolff, and making disparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statements to Mr. Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members, and the Company.”
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Trump cut ties with Bannon on Wednesday, saying his former adviser had "lost his mind," in a blistering statement issued after comments attributed to Bannon in the book were made public.
And continuing to distance himself from Bannon, Trump said: ";Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency."
But Bannon called Trump a "great man" in the wake of the book's controversy.
Some US news outlets have questioned the validity of statements made in Wolf's book.
Michael Wolff, 64, is best known for his columns which featured in New York magazine and Vanity Fair.
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