WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on a new book about President Donald Trump (all times local):
4:40 p.m.
The publisher of a new book about President Donald Trump’s first year in office apparently isn’t cowed by demands to halt publication - it is moving up the date the book comes out.
Henry Holt and Co. says in a statement that it will move up the release date of Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” four days, to Jan. 5, citing “unprecedented demand.”
Trump attorney Charles Harder has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Wolff and Steve Rubin, president and publisher of Henry Holt. It demands a halt to publication of the book or excerpts.
“Fire and Fury” paints a derogatory portrait of Trump, describing him as an undisciplined man-child who didn’t actually want to win the White House.
Wolff himself is tweeting: “Here we go. You can buy it (and read it) tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. President.”
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2:35 p.m.
President Donald Trump has made his first appearance in the White House briefing room - but on video.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders played a brief recorded video of Trump reading a statement about the tax cut bill he signed into law before Christmas.
Trump’s video appearance came the day after details from a forthcoming book painted an unflattering portrait of Trump and his administration. The Oval Office is a short walk from the briefing room, but the video appearance allowed Trump to deliver a message without having to face questions about the book and other topics.
Trump says in the video that the tax-cut legislation is already delivering major economic gains. The president says various companies have announced bonuses or higher minimum wages for their employees as a result of the law.
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1:25 p.m.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich agrees with the president about former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. Gingrich told reporters Thursday, “Well, I think Bannon has lost his mind, so that was an accurate tweet.”
The Georgia Republican was responding to President Donald Trump’s statement Wednesday that Bannon has “lost his mind.”
Bannon questioned Trump’s fitness for office and made scathing criticisms of the president in a new book about Trump’s first year in the White House.
Trump also tweeted this week that he has a “nuclear button” that is “much bigger” than the one claimed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Gingrich says, “The fact is, he’s going to be president, probably for eight years, and you guys just have to get used to the fact that he is who he is.”
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11:59 a.m.
President Donald Trump says he no longer speaks with former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who unloaded on his administration in a new book.
Trump told reporters Thursday, “I don’t talk to him,” before he began a White House meeting with Republican senators on immigration reform.
Bannon questioned Trump’s fitness for office and made scandalous allegations against the president and his family in excerpts of the book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” by Michael Wolff.
As the bombshell book surfaced Wednesday, Trump unleashed on Bannon in a statement, saying he had “lost his mind.”
Speaking on Thursday at the White House, Trump said Bannon spoke positively of him Wednesday night on his Breitbart radio show. Trump noted, “He called me a great man last night.” And Trump added that his counter-attack had its desired outcome. “He obviously changed his tune pretty quick.”
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10:55 a.m.
President Donald Trump is demanding the author and publisher of a new book about him immediately halt its release.
Trump attorney Charles Harder sent a cease-and-desist letter dated Thursday to Michael Wolff, author of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”
The same letter was also sent to Steve Rubin, president and publisher of Henry Holt and Co. It demands a halt to publication of the book or of excerpts.
Wolff’s book is set for release on Jan. 9. It paints a derogatory portrait of Trump.
Harder also demands that Wolff and Rubin issue a “full and complete” retraction and apology to Trump.
The attorney also asks that Wolff and Rubin immediately forward electronic and hard copies of the book to his office in California.
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3:38 a.m.
President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on former top adviser Steve Bannon, responding to a new book that portrays Trump as an undisciplined man-child who didn’t actually want to win the White House and quotes Bannon as calling his son’s contact with a Russian lawyer “treasonous.”
Hitting back via a formal White House statement rather than a more-typical Twitter volley, Trump insisted Bannon had little to do with his victorious campaign and “has nothing to do with me or my Presidency.”
“When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind,” Trump said Wednesday.
It was a blistering attack against the man who helped deliver the presidency to Trump. It was spurred by an unflattering new book by writer Michael Wolff that paints Trump as a leader who doesn’t understand the weight of the presidency and spends his evenings eating cheeseburgers in bed, watching television and talking on the phone to old friends.
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