ALSO BY MICHAEL WOLFF Television Is the New Television: The Unexpected Triumph of Old Media in the Digital Age The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch Autumn of the Moguls: My Misadventures with the Titans, Poseurs, and Money Guys Who Mastered and Messed Up Big Media Burn Rate: How I Survived the Gold Rush Years on the Internet Where We Stand White Kids LITTLE, BROWN First published in the United States in 2018 by Henry Holt and Company First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Little, Brown Copyright © 2018 by Michael Wolff The moral right of the author has been asserted. Designed by Meryl Sussman Levavi All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-4087-1138-5 Little, Brown An imprint of Little, Brown Book Group Carmelite House 50 Victoria Embankment London EC4Y 0DZ An Hachette UK Company www.hachette.co.uk www.littlebrown.co.uk For Victoria and Louise, mother and daughter CONTENTS AUTHOR’S NOTE PROLOGUE: AILES AND BANNON 1. ELECTION DAY 2. TRUMP TOWER 3. DAY ONE 4. BANNON 5. JARVANKA 6. AT HOME 7. RUSSIA 8. ORG CHART 9. CPAC 10. GOLDMAN 11. WIRETAP 12. REPEAL AND REPLACE 13. BANNON AGONISTES 14. SITUATION ROOM 15. MEDIA 16. COMEY 17. ABROAD AND AT HOME 18. BANNON REDUX 19. MIKA WHO? 20. MCMASTER AND SCARAMUCCI 21. BANNON AND SCARAMUCCI 22. GENERAL KELLY EPILOGUE: BANNON AND TRUMP ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX AUTHOR’S NOTE The reason to write this book could not be more obvious. With the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, 2017, the United States entered the eye of the most extraordinary politic