Summary of Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig's A Very Stable Genius

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 On November 9, 2016, Trump began staffing his administration. He never truly expected to win, and so he was unprepared. Trump valued loyalty above all else, and so he instinctively chose General Michael Flynn as his first knight.
#2 Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, was flabbergasted when Trump told him he was going to appoint Flynn as national security adviser. You can’t do that, Christie told Trump. First, you have to have a chief of staff in place and let your chief of staff have input on that because the security adviser will be reporting to the chief of staff.
#3 On November 10, Trump was in Washington visiting Obama at the White House. Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn, as he found his judgment dubious and his motives untrustworthy. Trump personally liked Flynn, though.
#4 Trump staffing the White House like a casting call, seeking the look, or the right person for the job. He chose Pompeo, a war veteran and Harvard Law graduate, for the CIA director position based on a single interview.

Sujets

• Executive (government)
• Federal government of the United States
• American Government

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 21 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669356608
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig's A Very Stable Genius
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

On November 9, 2016, Trump began staffing his administration. He never truly expected to win, and so he was unprepared. Trump valued loyalty above all else, and so he instinctively chose General Michael Flynn as his first knight.

#2

Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, was flabbergasted when Trump told him he was going to appoint Flynn as national security adviser. You can’t do that, Christie told Trump. First, you have to have a chief of staff in place and let your chief of staff have input on that because the security adviser will be reporting to the chief of staff.

#3

On November 10, Trump was in Washington visiting Obama at the White House. Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn, as he found his judgment dubious and his motives untrustworthy. Trump personally liked Flynn, though.

#4

Trump staffing the White House like a casting call, seeking the look, or the right person for the job. He chose Pompeo, a war veteran and Harvard Law graduate, for the CIA director position based on a single interview.

#5

Trump chose retired Marine Corps General James Mattis as his secretary of defense. Mattis was very reassuring to the national security establishment, as he was a seasoned and steady set of hands. Behind the scenes, Rick Gates was putting together the inauguration.

#6

Trump disregarded government ethics and the law. His children, Ivanka and Jared, were eager to leave their mark on Washington and serve in the West Wing. Some Trump advisers saw this as a risky proposition, but no one could stop them.

#7

Antinepotism laws prevented Trump from appointing family members to government positions, but he was able to appoint them to White House positions. Trump was suspicious of all the people he was hiring, and would ask repeatedly if they were loyal.

#8

On December 30, 2016, Trump tweeted that Putin had been very smart in regards to the Russian compounds incident. This shocked the Obama administration, who were briefing Trump and his team about the extensive Russian campaign to influence the election in Trump’s favor.

#9

Trump rejected the findings of the January 6 meeting, insisting that the intelligence agencies were deceitful and could not be trusted. He believed that acknowledging Russian intervention would make him look guilty.

#10

Before his inauguration, President Trump did not know that the FBI was conducting a counterintelligence investigation of Michael Flynn, but once he did, it would plant seeds of paranoia that would germinate and take root during his presidency.

#11

On January 20, Trump was sworn in as the president. Trump was apprehensive about moving to Washington, as he had no true friends in the city. Trump and his advisers feared that the capital's entrenched interests would plot to undermine the administration.

#12

On January 27, Trump issued a travel ban against citizens and refugees from seven majority-Muslim countries. The ban was drafted in secret by Bannon and Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior policy adviser and a hard-line opponent of illegal immigration. They didn’t consult McGahn or Yates about its legal framework.

#13

On January 30, Trump attended the Alfalfa Club dinner, an annual gathering of business and political elites. His new appointees mingled with the likes of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett.

#14

On February 13, Trump fired Flynn. He had developed a genuine friendship with him as they had traveled around the country campaigning together. Trump asked FBI director James Comey to let Flynn go, explaining that he was a good guy. Comey, however, had to comply with the law.

#15

On Feb. 10, Dubke interviewed for the job of communications director. He was eventually hired for the position, and on Feb. 16, he was invited to meet with Trump in the Oval Office. He was just a few minutes into telling Trump about the company he founded and his branding strategies when Trump had an idea: a press conference.

#16

On February 23, two highly regarded cabinet members, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and General Kelly, ran into the Trump buzz saw when they traveled to Mexico City to smooth over the hurt feelings of America's long-standing ally. Trump praised his administration's decision to launch a military operation to deport criminals who had snuck into the country illegally.

#17

The Trump administration claimed they would not deploy the military, but no one was entirely sure what they might do. The travel ban had been launched without any warning. The Mexican leaders were sure to be infuriated.

#18

Kelly corrected Trump on the military not being used for immigration operations, saying it would be used only for criminals. He stressed the importance of having a secure border, but said a sea-to-sea barrier was not the answer.

#19

On March 1, 2017, nearly six weeks after Trump had raised his right hand and sworn to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, he struggled to read aloud the words of the founding document. The documentary, titled The Words That Built America, was directed by Alexandra Pelosi, a daughter of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

#20

Trump was extremely nervous about reading the Constitution, and he acted like a brooding child while doing so. He was short-tempered, brittle, and quick to blame distractions for his mistakes.

#21

Jeff Sessions, one of Trump’s most steadfast allies, recused himself from oversight of the Russia investigation. The president called White House counsel Don McGahn to insist that he stop Sessions. McGahn knew that some of Trump’s reasoning made sense, despite the angry tone he used to explain it.

#22

Trump believed he was cornered by a series of rules that were rigged to box him in and limit his power. It was McGahn's duty to deliver bad news to Trump, who didn't appreciate it. Trump began to distrust McGahn, and eventually turned on him.

#23

Trump's rage would not die down the next day. He screamed at everyone around him, especially McGahn. He wished he had Roy Cohn, his former personal lawyer and mentor, back to help him fight off the investigation.

#24

Trump was incensed with Sessions, and he wanted McGahn to persuade the attorney general to un-recuse himself. McGahn explained to Trump that it would look like he was interfering with the investigation if anyone in the White House tried to pressure Sessions. Trump was frustrated.

#25

Trump and Sessions had known each other for twelve years, first meeting over a shared interest in a New York real estate project. In 2005, Trump testified before a Senate subcommittee and praised Sessions as a breath of fresh air. In 2016, Sessions became the first U. S. senator to publicly support Trump.

#26

Trump installed Jeff Sessions as attorney general with a mandate to oversee a hard-line anti-immigration agenda and begin rolling back civil rights protections. In a statement, Trump praised Sessions as a world-class legal mind who is highly respected and greatly admired.

#27

Trump wanted James Comey to tell the public that he was not under investigation. The FBI director refused, and Trump became enraged. He ordered four different officials to find a way to get Comey to comply, but none of them did.

#28

On May 4, Trump unloaded on Jeff Sessions. He was furious that the attorney general had recused himself from the Trump-Russia investigation, and he wanted to fire Comey. McGahn was surprised, but Trump made it clear that he had made his decision.

#29

Trump asked McGahn if it was legal to fire Comey. McGahn told him that it was. Trump then asked McGahn to help him fire Comey.

#30

Trump called for his assistant to bring in his draft termination letter, and asked Rosenstein and Sessions what they thought. As Rosenstein tried to read it, Trump kept talking and peppering him with questions. Rosenstein finished reading and said he agreed with some of it but not all.

#31

Trump was so excited about firing Comey that he asked the White House photographer to come to the Oval and take pictures of the event. His staff had no idea that Comey was traveling on business in Los Angeles. Trump called Christie and was disappointed in his staff's incompetence.

#32

Trump told Christie he wanted him to defend him on CNN after 11 p. m. He replied, You won’t do this for me. Trump replied, No, that’s incorrect. I will do it for you right after Rod. I want to hear Rod say on national television that he gave you this memo and that because of this memo you fired Comey. There would be no Rosenstein TV appearance.

#33

Following the firing of James Comey as FBI director, the Russia investigation was in jeopardy. The FBI had been considering opening an investigation on Trump for obstructing the Russia probe since Comey had returned from a private meeting with Trump in February.

#34

On May 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was visiting the White House, and Trump invited him and the Russian ambassador into the Oval Office for a meet and greet. Trump told the Russians that he had just fired FBI Director James Comey, but that it was due to his handling of the Russia investigation.

#35

On May 12, Rosenstein was scheduled to speak at the Drug Enforcement Administration’s green-glass headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, in honor of personnel who had died trying to investigate drug traffickers.