Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency
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“Everyone thinks he’s Republican Jesus”: Eli Stokols and Alex Isenstadt, “GOP Establishment on the Ropes,” Politico.com, March 16, 2016, www.politico.com/story/2016/03/trump-contested-convention-establishment-plans-220848.
“The Republican convention”: Julia Hahn, “Concerns About Paul Ryan Emerging Out of Ted Cruz-Created Contested Convention as Nominee Dominate Wisconsin,” Breitbart.com, April 2, 2016, www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/04/02/concerns-paul-ryan-emerging-ted-cruz-created-contested-convention-nominee-dominate-wisconsin/.
“Count me out”: Katie Reilly, “Paul Ryan Says He Doesn’t Want and Won’t Accept the GOP Nomination,” Time.com, April 12, 2016, time.com/4291293/paul-ryan-republican-nomination/.
“@realDonaldTrump”: Reince Priebus, Twitter post, May 3, 2016, 8:58 p.m., twitter.com/jeneps/status/727664278908620800.
persuading Trump to hire: Gideon Resnick, “Roger Stone Convinced Trump to Hire Paul Manafort, Former Officials Say,” Daily Beast, April 21, 2017, www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/21/roger-stone-convinced-trump-to-hire-paul-manafort-former-officials-say.html.
But he had long ago shifted: Steven Mufson and Tom Hamburger, “Inside Trump Adviser Manafort’s World of Politics and Global Financial Dealmaking,” Washington Post, April 26, 2016.
“sordid and apparently illicit affair”: “Read Ex-Aide Samuel Nunberg’s Response to Donald Trump’s Lawsuit,” Guardian, July 13, 2016, www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2016/jul/13/donald-trump-samuel-nunberg-affidavit.
The parties later agreed: Chris Dolmetsch, “Former Trump Adviser Nunberg Agrees to Drop Campaign Suit,” Bloomberg.com, August 11, 2016, www.bloomberg.com/politics/trackers/2016-08-11/former-trump-adviser-nunberg-agrees-to-drop-campaign-suit.
Clinton had raised $264 million: Bill Allison, Mira Rojanasakul, and Brittany Harris, “Tracking the 2016 Presidential Money Race,” Bloomberg.com, July 21, 2016, www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2016-presidential-campaign-fundraising/july/public/index.html.
“It is like an epic disaster”: Lauren Fox and Tierney Sneed, “Why Trump’s Fundraising Struggles Spell Disaster for the Entire GOP,” Talking Points memo, June 22, 2016, talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/donald-trump-down-the-ballot-fundraising.
New York published: Gabriel Sherman, “6 More Women Allege That Roger Ailes Sexually Harassed Them,” New York, July 9, 2016, nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/six-more-women-allege-ailes-sexual-harassment.html.
Breitbart dutifully published: Matthew Boyle, “Exclusive—Fox News Stars Stand with Roger Ailes Against Megyn Kelly, More Than 50 Fox Contributors, All Primetime, Willing to Walk,” Breitbart.com, July 19, 2016, www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/07/19/exclusive-fox-news-stands-roger-ailes-megyn-kelly-50-fox-contributors-primetime-willing-walk-ailes/.
Ailes was banned: Gabriel Sherman, “The Revenge of Roger’s Angels,” New York, September 2, 2016, nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/09/how-fox-news-women-took-down-roger-ailes.html.
Chapter Ten: Burn Everything Down
Her own family: Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy, “Six Donors That Trump Appointed Gave Almost $12 Million with Their Families to Back His Campaign and the Party,” Washington Post, December 9, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/12/09/the-six-donors-trump-appointed-to-his-administration-gave-almost-12-million-with-their-families-to-his-campaign-and-the-party/?utm_term=.2ca68c2efbe8&tid=a_inl.
The New York Times had published: Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman, “Inside the Failing Mission to Tame Donald Trump’s Tongue,” New York Times, August 13, 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/us/politics/donald-trump-campaign-gop.html.
“Defeat Crooked Hillary PAC”: Joshua Green and Zachary Mider, “New Super-PAC Launches for Donors Who Won’t Back Trump but Loathe Clinton,” Bloomberg.com, June 21, 2016, www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-06-22/new-super-pac-launches-for-donors-who-won-t-back-trump-but-loathe-clinton.
Robert Mercer [$2 million]: “Contributors, 2016 Cycle” Opensecrets.org, n.d., www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave2.php?cmte=C00575373&cycle=2016.
Jared and Ivanka were yachting: Chris Spargo, “Yachting with the Enemy: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Take the Jet Skis Out and Relax on Democratic Hollywood Billionaire David Geffen’s $200m Mega-Yacht Off the Coast of Croatia,” Daily Mail (UK), August 16, 2016, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3743316/Yachting-enemy-Ivanka-Trump-Jared-Kushner-jet-ski-Croatia-Democratic-Hollywood-billionaire-David-Geffen-s-200m-boat.html.
“Secret Ledger in Ukraine”: Andrew E. Kramer, Mike McIntire, and Barry Meier, “Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trump’s Campaign Chief,” New York Times, August 14, 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine-donald-trump.html.
“The suggestion that I accepted”: David E. Sanger and Maggie Haberman, “Donald Trump’s Terrorism Plan Mixes Cold War Concepts and Limits on Immigrants,” New York Times, August 15, 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/us/politics/donald -trump-terrorism.html.
“This is the bunker scene”: Joshua Green, “Steve Bannon’s Plan to Free Donald Trump and Save His Campaign,” Bloomberg.com, August 18, 2016, www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-08-18/trump-resuscitate-campaign.
“If you were looking for a tone”: Robert Costa, Jose A. DelReal, and Jenna Johnson, “Trump Shakes Up Campaign, Demotes Top Adviser,” Washington Post, August 17, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/08/17/trump-reshuffles-staff-in-his-own-image/.
Evola’s ideas gained currency: Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity (New York: New York University Press, 2002).
“Lock her up! Lock her up!”: Peter W. Stevenson, “A Brief History of the ‘Lock Her Up!’ Chant by Trump Supporters Against Clinton,” Washington Post, November 22, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/22/a-brief-history-of-the-lock-her-up-chant-as-it-looks-like-trump-might-not-even-try/.
“over time it all gets kind of washed out”: J. Lester Feder, “This Is How Steve Bannon Sees the Entire World,” BuzzFeed, November 15, 2016, updated November 16, 2016, www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/this-is-how-steve-bannon-sees-the-entire-world?utm_term=.ulolXPzAad#.ck2Px3AGgn.
David Fahrenthold, a reporter: David Fahrenthold, “Trump Recorded Having Extremely Lewd Conversation About Women in 2005,” Washington Post, October 8, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html.
it briefly crashed: Paul Farhi, “A Caller Had a Lewd Tape of Donald Trump. Then the Race to Break the Story Was On,” Washington Post, October 7, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-caller-had-a-lewd-tape-of-donald-trump-then-the-race-was-on/2016/10/07/31d74714-8ce5-11e6-875e-2c1bfe943b66_story.html.
“Donald Trump should withdraw”: Alex Pappas, “Here Are the Republicans Calling on Donald Trump to Withdraw,” Daily Caller, October 8, 2016, dailycaller.com/2016/10/08/here-are-the-republicans-calling-on-donald-trump-to-withdraw-video/.
“I am not going to defend”: Paul Ryan conference call: Matthew Boyle, “Exclusive—Audio Emerges of When Paul Ryan Abandoned Donald Trump: ‘I Am Not Going to Defend Donald Trump—Not Now, Not in the Future,’” Breitbart.com, March 13, 2017, www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/13/exclusive-audio-emerges-of-when-paul-ryan-abandoned-donald-trump-i-am-not-going-to-defend-donald-trump-not-now-not-in-the-future/.
“go down with a worse election”: Gabriel Sherman, “Trump’s Transition Team ‘Is Like Game of Thrones,’” New York, December 8, 2016, nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/12/trumps-transition-team-is-like-game-of-thrones.html.
“Donald Trump’s uncensored comments”: Matea Gold, “GOP Mega-Donors Robert and Rebekah Mercer Stand by Trump, Washington Post, October 8, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/08/gop-mega-donors-robert-and-rebekah-mercer-stand-by-trump
/.
a judge had appointed: Kim LaCapria, “Hillary Clinton Freed Child Rapist,” Snopes.com Fact Check, May 2, 2016, updated August 13, 2016, www.snopes.com/hillary-clinton-freed-child-rapist-laughed-about-it/.
“We were going to put”: Robert Costa, Dan Balz, and Philip Rucker, “Trump Wanted to Put Bill Clinton’s Accusers in His Family Box. Debate Officials Said No,” Washington Post, October 10, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/10/trumps-debate-plan-to-seat-bill-clintons-accusers-in-family-box-was-thwarted/?postshare=811476078962605&tid=ss_tw.
NBC News/SurveyMonkey: Christine Wang, “Positive Opinions of Trump Grow After Second Debate, NBC/Surveymonkey Poll Says,” CNBC.com, October 12, 2016, www.cnbc.com/2016/10/11/positive-opinions-of-trump-grow-after-second-debate-nbcsuveymonkey-poll-says.html.
“To quote the late, great Nelson Mandela”: Philip Rucker and Sean Sullivan, “Trump Says Groping Allegations Are Part of a Global Conspiracy to Help Clinton,” Washington Post, October 13, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-groping-allegations-are-part-of-a-global-conspiracy-to-help-clinton/2016/10/13/e377d7e4-915a-11e6-a6a3-d50061aa9fae_story.html.
“We’re gonna go buck wild”: Joshua Green, “Trump to Intensify Attacks on Clinton over Husband’s Accusers,” Bloomberg.com, October 12, 2016, www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-10-12/trump-takes-a-back-to-the-future-focus-on-bill-clinton-s-women.
“Is the Presidential Race Tightening?”: Nate Silver, “Election Update: Is the Presidential Race Tightening?,” FiveThirtyEight, New York Times, October 26, 2016, fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-is-the-presidential-race-tightening/.
“Yes, Donald Trump Has a Path to Victory”: Nate Silver, “Election Update: Yes, Donald Trump Has a Path to Victory,” FiveThirtyEight, New York Times, November 1, 2016, fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-yes-donald-trump-has-a-path-to-victory/.
Chapter Eleven: “The FBI Has Learned of the Existence . . .”
“We’re already seeing the effects”: “Hillary Clinton Speaks to Estimated Crowd of 10,000+,” AZCentral.com, November 2, 2016, www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/02/hillary-clinton-arizona-asu-presidential-campaign-rally/93143352/,
“Arizona ain’t an indulgence”: Brian Fallon, Twitter post, October 29, 2016, 9:41 a.m., twitter.com/brianefallon/status/792043601463283713.
“I’m out. I can no longer”: Cristiano Limo, “‘I’m Out’: Rep. Chaffetz Withdraws His Endorsement of Trump,” Politico. com, October 8, 2016, www.politico.com/story/2016/10/rep-chaffetz-withdraws-his-endorsement-of-trump-229335.
“My wife, Julie, and I”: Daniella Diaz, “Chaffetz Explains Why He’s Pulling Support for Trump,” CNN.com, October 8, 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/10/08/politics/jason-chaffetz-donald-trump-republican-2016-election/.
Afterword: Kali Yuga
a Quinnipiac poll in March: http://www.businessinsider.com/quinnipiac-poll-shows-17-percent-of-american-support-trumpcare-ahca-2017-3.
“I’m my own strategist”: http://nypost.com/2017/04/11/trump-wont-definitively-say-he-still-backs-bannon/.
INDEX
The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.
Abedin, Huma, 228
Access Hollywood, 8, 214, 217–19, 227–28
ACORN, 89–90, 144
Acosta, Jim, 1–2
Affinity Media, 82, 83
Affordable Care Act, 114, 115, 176, 238, 240
African Americans, 10, 96–99, 101, 103, 191
Ailes, Beth, 195
Ailes, Roger, 108–9, 167, 172, 174, 180–81, 184, 201
Bannon and, 172–74, 194–95
sexual harassment charges against, 194–96
Allen, Danny, 98
Allen, David, 62–63
alt-right, 83, 146–48, 211–12
Bannon and, 83, 146–47, 187, 211–14
Hillary Clinton on, 212–14, 232
Trump and, 147–48, 214, 222
Alwaleed bin Talal, Prince, 78
American Conservative Union, 124
American Crossroads, 123
American Spectator, 153
America We Deserve, The (Trump), 37
Anti-Defamation League (ADL), 9, 83, 148
anti-Semitism, 9, 83, 146n, 148, 190, 213, 222
Apatow, Judd, 34
Apprentice, The, 11, 38, 93–99, 101–4, 112, 166–67, 182, 191, 239
Artist Management Group (AMG), 80
Art of the Deal, The (Trump), 37
Associated Press (AP), 11, 18, 19
Astorino, Rob, 116
Atlantic, ix, 184
Atlantic City, N.J., 23–24
Bachmann, Michele, 21
Bannon, Chris, 50
Bannon, Doris, 49–50
Bannon, Martin, 19, 49–50, 88
Bannon, Steve:
author’s meeting of, ix, xiii
background and career of, x, 2, 5, 21, 48, 49–65
in college, 53–54
on Election Night, 3, 12–14, 16–18, 20
in entertainment and media industry, ix, x, 72–74, 79–89, 108, 132–34, 140, 142, 166
GAI and, 132–33, 141–42, 151, 156–57, 209
Goldman Sachs and, x, 2, 52, 63–65, 67, 69–74, 82, 84, 87, 140–42, 155
at Harvard, 60–65, 67, 68
in high school at Benedictine, 2, 50–53, 204
hobbies of, 119–20
immigration views of, 6, 46, 108, 111, 140, 208
national security degree of, 60
as naval officer, 2, 54–59, 62, 63, 65, 204
Pentagon position of, 59–60
physical appearance of, 2–3, 45, 140
populist-nationalist worldview of, x, xiii, 6, 21, 46, 52, 53, 93, 139–40, 145, 150, 204, 207, 208, 213–14, 222, 241
religious studies and views of, 204–7
as Trump’s campaign strategist, xi–xiii, 2–6, 9–11, 20–22, 53, 197, 200–203, 208–9, 211, 212, 236, 238, 241–42
Trump’s meeting of, 44–46, 93
“Uninvited” conference of, 124–25
Valkyries and, 149–50, 216
in video game industry, x, 81–83, 145–46
views on Islam, x, 51, 58, 84–85, 140, 207
White House role of, xi, 237–39
Bannon & Co., 74, 76–79
Beato, Greg, 91n
Begala, Paul, 220–21
Benedict XVI, Pope, 134, 206
Benedictine College Preparatory, 2, 50–53, 204
Berlusconi, Silvio, 78
Bernadette, 75
Biosphere 2 Project, x
Blankfein, Lloyd, 9
Blitzer, Wolf, 13, 38
Blizzard Entertainment, 82, 83
Bloomberg Businessweek, xi, xii, 19
Bloomberg News, 122n, 130
Bloomberg Politics–Des Moines Register Iowa poll, 181
Boehner, John, 4, 132, 175–77
Boisi, Geoff, 69–70
Border Wars: The Battle over Illegal Immigration, 87, 108
Bossie, David, xii, 6, 11, 25–32, 47, 114, 116, 200, 201, 209, 215, 221
Citizens United group of, 29–32, 111, 121, 123
Clintons and, 26, 27, 29–31
Trump and, 25, 31, 32, 42–44
Boston Globe, 158
Boyle, Matthew, 149, 163
Brat, David, 110
Brauchli, Marcus, 36
Breitbart, Andrew, 85–91, 130–31, 140, 143–44, 146, 213
death of, 46, 91, 108, 131
Breitbart London, 207
Breitbart
News, 46, 72, 89–91, 108–10, 130–32, 135, 143–44, 147, 157, 160, 176, 177, 192, 195, 199, 213
Bannon’s leadership of, x, 4–6, 46, 81, 83, 90, 91, 108, 124–25, 131, 137–51, 164, 166, 183, 187–88, 203, 208, 212–13, 216
Fields and, 192
Fox News and, 171
Kelly and, 172–74
Mercers and, 130–32
Mexican immigration issues and Texas bureau of, 6, 108–10, 149, 163, 164
Trump and, 6, 46, 183
Breitbart Rome, 206
Brexit, 207, 226
Broaddrick, Juanita, 217
Brock, David, 153–54, 157
Brown, Peter, 127, 128, 130
Brzezinski, Mika, 173
Buress, Hannibal, 150
Burke, Raymond Cardinal, 206, 207
Burnett, Mark, 95
Burton, Dan, 25–28, 47, 141
Busey, Gary, 35, 36
Bush, Billy, 214
Bush, George H. W., 42, 110, 193
Bush, George W., 22, 29, 38, 42, 99–100, 106, 110
Bush, Jeb, 4, 6, 117, 154, 165–66, 170
Bushes, The: Portrait of a Dynasty (Schweizer and Schweizer), 154
Byrd Organization, 49, 50
Caldwell, Christopher, 184
Cambridge Analytica, 7, 12, 13, 134–35, 226
Cannon Group, 75
Cantor, Eric, 110
Caputo, Michael, 112, 116
Carlson, Gretchen, 194
Carson, Ben, 45
Carter, Jimmy, 56–59
Castle Rock Entertainment, 78, 79
Catholic Church, 50, 51, 75, 204–7
Celebrity Apprentice, The, 35, 101, 169
Central Park Five, 100
Chaffetz, Jason, 228
Christie, Chris, 11, 14–16, 18, 170, 185, 201, 215
Citizens United, 29–32, 111, 121, 123
Clinton, Bill, 21, 25–26, 29, 42, 43, 47, 132–33, 140–41, 148, 152, 153, 158–60
impeachment of, 28, 29, 43, 150, 153
sex scandals of, 43, 150–51, 215–19, 221
Clinton, Hillary, 27, 29, 42, 132–33, 143, 152–54, 157–60, 168, 169, 173, 209