Fear: Trump in the White House(127)
An emergency meeting was called: Author review of contemporaneous notes by a participant.
Sonny Perdue gave a presentation: Author review of contemporaneous notes by a participant.
A New York Times headline read: Gina Chon and Pete Sweeney, “China Surrenders Little to U.S. in First Round of Trade Talks,” The New York Times, May 12, 2017.
The president held a meeting: Author review of contemporaneous notes by a participant.
CHAPTER 20
The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.
He brought a three-page memo: Rosenstein’s memo is available at https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3711188/Rosenstein-letter-on-Comey-firing.pdf.
He had muddied the waters: “Partial Transcript: NBC News Interview with Donald Trump,” CNN, May 11, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/11/politics/transcript-donald-trump-nbc-news/index.html.
The evening of Tuesday, May 16: Michael S. Schmidt, “Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation,” The New York Times, May 16, 2017.
On CNN that evening: Derek Hawkins, “?‘I Think We’re in Impeachment Territory,’ Says David Gergen, Former Aide to Nixon and Clinton,” The Washington Post, May 17, 2017.
CHAPTER 21
The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.
First, he had been blindsided: “Attorney General Sessions Statement on Recusal,” U.S. Department of Justice, March 2, 2017.
Dowd examined the one-page Rosenstein order: The order is publicly available at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3726408-Rosenstein-letter-appointing-Mueller-special.html.
Perhaps the most troubling pieces: Comey’s June 8, 2017, testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is available at https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3860393/Comey-Opening-Statement-June-8.pdf. Comey’s memos are available at https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4442900/Ex-FBI-Director-James-Comey-s-memos.pdf.
In a celebrated July 27 news conference: Donald J. Trump, “News Conference in Doral, Florida,” July 27, 2016. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=118047.
He later tweeted, “If Russia”: View Trump’s tweet at https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/758335147183788032.
The next day he said: Nick Gass, “Trump on Russia Hacking Comments: ‘Of Course I’m Being Sarcastic,’?” Politico, July 27, 2016.
CHAPTER 22
The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.
Within the intelligence and military world: Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), p. 56.
Just over a month later: See the CNS North Korea Missile Test Database, available for download at http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/cns-north-korea-missile-test-database/.
That afternoon, McMaster chaired: Author review of contemporaneous notes by a participant.
Less than two months later: Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “North Korea’s Latest Nuclear Test Was So Powerful It Reshaped the Mountain Above It,” The Washington Post, September 14, 2017.
During the campaign, on February 10: Matt Stevens, “Trump and Kim Jong Un, and the Names They’ve Called Each Other,” The New York Times, March 9, 2018.
He was captured nine months later: Saddam Hussein was tried for crimes against humanity, found guilty and hanged three years later.
From October 17 to 19, 2017: David Cenciotti, “Here Are Some Interesting Details About the Way U.S. B-2 Bombers Trained Over the U.S. to Strike North Korea,” The Aviationist, October 30, 2017.
This question echoed: Wolf Blitzer, “Search for the ‘Smoking Gun,’?” CNN, January 10, 2003.
Chain migration, formally called: William A. Kandel, “U.S. Family-Based Immigration Policy,” Congressional Research Service, February 9, 2018, https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R43145.pdf.
Two thirds (68 percent): Ibid.
CHAPTER 23
The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.
Gary Cohn gathered the principals: Author review of contemporaneous notes by a participant.
In a late-afternoon Rose Garden: Donald J. Trump, “Remarks Announcing United States Withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement,” June 1, 2017. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=125881.
On June 15, 2017, The Washington Post : Sari Horwitz, Matt Zapotosky and Adam Entous, “Special Counsel Is Investigating Jared Kushner’s Business Dealings,” The Washington Post, June 15, 2017.
Priebus continued to tell Trump: In early 2018, Jared’s interim Top Secret security clearance was taken away as the FBI continued a very aggressive background investigation. But in May, the FBI granted Jared a permanent Top Secret clearance, suggesting his troubles in the special counsel probe were over—a startling turn in his favor.
CHAPTER 24
The information in this chapter comes primarily from multiple deep background interviews with firsthand sources.