Current Affairs

When you’re this famous, controversial and work with countless people, you’d bet that there will be those who would want to write books about you. Whether they’re complimentary or otherwise, that’s a whole other matter altogether. This is probably what US President Donald Trump has to face often enough that his team of advisors have to diligently book court dates in order to oppose the publishing of these books. Unfortunately for these two most recent books, their efforts have been futile.

Too Much and Never Enough, is the title of Mary Trump’s tell-all book, due to launch on 28 July. Niece to President Donald Trump, the book details how she was a primary source for the New York Times’ Pulitzer-winning investigation into the president’s “dubious tax schemes” during the 1990s. 

Meanwhile, US judge Royce Lamberth has refused to block the release of a tell-all book by President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor which describes him as corrupt and incompetent. John Bolton’s explosive book, The Room Where it Happened, details Bolton’s 17 months working with the president. Bolton, a Republican, was fired in September last year and contends that Trump is “not fit for office”.

Too Much and Never Enough

The blockbuster investigation published in October 2018, revealed that Trump “received the equivalent today of at least US$413 million from his father’s real estate empire, starting when he was a toddler and continuing to this day.”

There has been talk that the book will include “intimate and damning” conversations between Mary and President Trump’s sister, retired federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry.

Although details about the tell-all book are being kept under wraps, Mary will allege that President Trump and his father, Fred Sr., “contributed to” the death of her own father, Fred Jr., in 1981 at 42 years old after a long struggle with alcoholism.

In a description of the book posted on Amazon, Mary is said to describe “a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse.” Mary and her brother, Fred III, notably sued other members of the Trump family in 2000, alleging that their relatives had persuaded Fred Trump Sr. to change his will and deprived them of what they believed was their father’s fair share of the family wealth.

President Trump has since claimed that the financial feud with his late brother’s children had been settled amicably, although details about the case have never been made public.

Early this week, the president’s brother, Robert Trump, asked a court in Queens, New York to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the publication of  the book. Echoing comments by the president, Robert accused Mary of violating a non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2001. His request was denied, with the judge in the case saying that his court, the Queens Country Surrogate Court, was not the right jurisdiction to seek an injunction against the book.

The Room Where It Happened

President Trump’s aides have tried to obtain a restraining order to prevent the book from being sold but Judge Royce Lamberth had written that it was too late to halt the process.

The DC district court judge said Bolton appeared to have failed to get a written White House agreement that his memoir contained nothing classified, but still refused to hold up the memoir. “While Bolton’s unilateral conduct raises grave national security concerns, the government has not established that an injunction is an appropriate remedy,” the judge wrote.

The judge said a review of passages that the government contends contain classified material had persuaded him that Bolton “likely jeopardised national security through publication.”

Despite failing to have the book halted, Trump quickly took to Twitter to hail a “big court win” against Bolton.

He tweeted: “Obviously, with the book already given out and leaked to many people and the media, nothing the highly respected Judge could have done about stopping it…BUT, strong & powerful statements & rulings on MONEY & on BREAKING CLASSIFICATION were made.”

“Bolton broke the law and has been called out and rebuked for so doing, with a really big price to pay.”

Details in Bolton’s include descriptions of Trump “pleading” with Chinese President Xi Jinping during trade negotiations to boost the US president’s chances of re-election in November last year by buying more farm products to help agricultural states. It also reports that Trump, a real estate tycoon who never held office before winning the White House, thought Finland was part of Russia.

Bolton also backs up the allegations at the centre of Trump’s impeachment last year that he pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt to weaken his Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden. Not only this, but Trump committed other “Ukraine-like transgressions” in his wielding of foreign policy for personal gain, Bolton alleges.

Trump’s response to the book? He has characterised the work as “fiction”. Many of its most damning allegations against the president have already been reported in the media.

The sensationally blunt appraisal from someone who had such high-level access has rocked the White House, with the president already mired in criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and racial tensions.

Deputy assistant attorney general David Morrell said Bolton had agreed not to publish a book with classified information “without written authorisation”. “In exchange for money he has broken that promise,” Morrell said. “He should not be rewarded.”

The backlash over the book from Trump loyalists and the president himself has been savage. Trump has called Bolton “a sick puppy,” a “boring fool” and a “washed-up guy” while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo branded Bolton a traitor. “John Bolton is spreading a number of lies, fully-spun half-truths and outright falsehoods,” Pompeo said in a statement.

Although Mary Trump’s book is said to include revelations that could be particularly damaging for President Trump, several former White House aides and Trump administration members have published equally explosive exposés in recent years.

Among them are the former FBI director James Comey, whose political memoir A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership topped 600,000 copies during its first week at US bookshops. Veteran reporter Bob Woodward’s Fear: Trump in the White House sold more than a million copies in the first week of its release in the US, making it the fastest-selling opener in the history of publisher Simon & Schuster.

Source: AFP Relax News