An upcoming book portrays a White House staff under President Donald Trump that was "absolutely out of control" at times and often at each other's throats, according to excerpts published on Tuesday.
"Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House," which goes on sale next week, was written by Cliff Sims, who served as a special assistant to the 45th president.
The Washington Post, National Public Radio and Axios published excerpts from the 384-page book by Sims, who worked on Trump's campaign before joining the White House as Director of Message Strategy.
According to the Post, the book features "expletive-filled scenes of chaos, dysfunction and duplicity among the president, his family members and administration officials."
The book is "neither a sycophantic portrayal of the president nor a blistering account written to settle scores," the Post said, and Sims does not spare himself from criticism, confessing to being "nakedly ambitious."
The president cultivated chaos among his advisers, Sims writes, but he says "it's dang near impossible to spend one-on-one time with Donald Trump and not end up liking him."
Vice President Mike Pence was sent to persuade him to return. White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway comes in for biting criticism with Sims describing her as the "American Sniper of West Wing marksmen" whose agenda is "survival over all others, including the president."
"(Trump) hadn't lifted a finger for countless loyal aides before me and... wouldn't for countless aides to come."
Sims concludes he had "let my personal relationship to the president blind me to the one unfailing truth that applied to anyone with whom he didn't share a last name: we were all disposable."
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