[ghfbjdhhv]

Fire and Fury asserts in the first chapter that Trump and just about everyone else involved thought he wouldn’t win, and that Trump himself didn’t want to win. I’m not saying that book is reliable, but you can find a lot of detail there if you want to understand the claim.

[throwaway84742]

Fire and Fury is also almost entirely fiction. The author had no access whatsoever, is known for just making shit up, and has admitted that he made shit up _in this particular book_. Yet some people continue to treat it as a documentary account of some sort.

[ghfbjdhhv]

The word “access” may be some kind of jargon, but many people have confirmed that Michael Wolff was often physically present in the White House. He spoke to Trump and many members of the campaign before and after the election.

[valuearb]

Hope Hicks approved his access, and Steve Bannon confirmed much of what he wrote.

[throwaway84742]

Yet the fact remains: he had 12 interactions with campaign staff, just one of which was was with Trump. It lasted 7 minutes. Hardly enough for a substantial book, so the rest of it he basically sucked out of his thumb, including such lurid fantasies as Trump having an affair with Nikki Haley.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article...

[valuearb]

This is even better.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/steve-bannon-no-reg...

“Bannon said Thursday that his interviews with Wolff were “authorized” by both the White House and outgoing communications director Hope Hicks.

Bannon called a meeting between President Trump's eldest son Donald Jr. and a Russian lawyer "treasonous" in Wolff's book. “I haven’t seen anybody refute anything that was said in the book,” Bannon said.”

[valuearb]

12 interactions? Or 12 lengthy interviews?

Steve Bannon has more incentive than anyone to contest the books accuracy and he’s basically confirmed it.