In a new book to be released Tuesday, Corey Lewandowski, who was fired as Trump’s campaign manager during the election, and David Bossie, another top aide, detail what it was like to work with Trump when he was running for President.
The Washington Post — which obtained an advanced copy of the book, “Let Trump Be Trump” — reported several anecdotes from the campaign, including that then-press secretary Hope Hicks used a steamer to press Trump’s pants while he was still wearing them and that Trump’s typical order from McDonald’s consisted of “two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish and a chocolate malted.”
“Sooner or later, everybody who works for Donald Trump will see a side of him that makes you wonder why you took a job with him in the first place,” they wrote in the book, according to the Post. “His wrath is never intended as any personal offense, but sometimes it can be hard not to take it that way. The mode that he switches into when things aren’t going his way can feel like an all-out assault; it’d break most hardened men and women into little pieces.”
They said they “both had moments where they wanted to parachute off Trump Force One,” but added they got used to the environment.
Lewandowski paints a positive image of his former boss, according to the Post, and used the book to slam Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman who Lewandowski blamed for his leaving the campaign.
After Lewandowski left the campaign, CNN hired him as a political commentator in June 2016. He resigned that position in November 2016.
In one part of the book, Lewandowski writes about a time when Trump was on a helicopter and learned that Manafort said, “Trump shouldn’t be on television anymore, that he shouldn’t be on the Sunday shows,” and that Manafort should appear instead.
Lewandowski wrote that Trump was angrier than he’d ever seen and ordered the pilot to lower the altitude so he could make a cellphone call.
“Did you say I shouldn’t be on TV on Sunday? I’ll go on TV any time I g–dam f—ing want and you won’t say another f—ing word about me!” Trump yelled at Manafort, according to Lewandowski. “Tone it down? I wanna turn it up!! … You’re a political pro? Let me tell you something. I’m a pro at life. I’ve been around a time or two. I know guys like you, with your hair and skin …”
According to the Post, Lewandowski called it “one of the greatest takedowns in the history of the world.”
He recalled that shortly after, he “immediately got a phone call” from Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law “telling me I wasn’t a team player and that I’d thrown Paul under the bus.” He wrote that Manafort soon arranged for him to be fired from the campaign.