âDefiance Disorderâ: Another new book describes chaos in Trumpâs White House
President Trump   seen here in a file photo  is portrayed in another new book as running a chaotic White House. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
In late July  the White House had just finished an official policy review on transgender individuals serving in the military and President Trump and his then-chief of staff  Reince Priebus  had agreed to meet in the Oval Office to discuss the four options awaiting the president in a decision memo.
But then  Trump  unexpectedly preempted the conversation and sent  his  entire administration scrambling  by tweeting out  his  own decision â that the government would not allow transgender individuals to serve â just moments later.
â âOh my God   he  just tweeted this â â Priebus said  according to a new book by Howard Kurtz  who hosts Fox Newsâs âMedia Buzz.â There was  Kurtz writes  âno longer a need for the meeting.â
The White House â and the politerati diaspora â has just barely stopped reeling from author Michael Wolffâs account of life in  Trump âs West Wing  âFire and Fury: Inside  the Trump White House  â and now another life-in-the-White-House book is about to drop  this one from Kurtz.
Like the books that came before it  and almost certainly like the ones still to come  Kurtzâs book  âMedia Madness:  Donald Trump   The Press  And The War Over The Truth â offers a portrait of a White House riven by chaos  with aides scrambling to respond to the presidentâs impulses and writing policy to fit his tweets  according to excerpts obtained by The Washington Post.
Stephen K. Bannon isnât the only person offering a candid assessment about the  Trump  administration in the book âFire and Fury: Inside  the Trump White House â by Michael Wolff. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
Kurtz  who worked at The Post from 1981 to 2010  writes that  Trumpâs  aides even privately coined a term for  Trumpâs  behavior â âDefiance Disorder.â The phrase refers to  Trumpâs  seeming compulsion to do whatever it is  his  advisers are most strongly urging against  leaving  his  team to handle the fallout.
Early in the administration  Kurtz describes White House aides waking up one Saturday morning in March  confused and âblindsided â to find that  Trump  had â without any evidence â accused former president Barack Obama on Twitter of wiretapping him during the campaign.
In another scene  Kurtz paints a largely positive picture of Trumpâs daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law  Jared Kushner  but notes â as has been previously reported â that  Trump  repeatedly worried whether the couple were making the right decision moving to Washington to take jobs in  his  administration.
 Trump  had reason for concern. At one point  Kurtz writes that Stephen K. Bannon â Trumpâs former chief strategist who was a key on-the-record source for Wolffâs book and seems likely to have talked to Kurtz â dresses down the presidentâs daughter early in the administration.
Kurtz also recounts an Oval Office meeting in which Bannon blamed Ivanka for a leak â and  Trump  supported him over his daughter: â âBaby  I think Steveâs right here â  Trump  told  her .â
Bannon  Kurtz writes  told  Trump  when he left the White House in August that he planned to go after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)  saying his main goal was âto bring him down.â
â Trump  said that was fine  that Bannon should go ahead â Kurtz writes.
By Kurtzâs telling  Trumpâs approach to replacing Priebus as chief of staff with John F. Kelly  who was then homeland security secretary  was also not exactly standard operating procedure. âTypically   Trump  announced the decision without telling Priebus and without having made a formal offer to Kelly â he writes.
In the excerpts  counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway emerges as one of the few calming presences on  Trump . When  on his first full day as president   Trump  wanted to send Sean Spicer  then the White House press secretary  out to attack the media for correctly reporting the crowd size  Conway initially tried to talk him out of it.
[TGT] seen here in a file photo  is portrayed in another new book as running a chaotic White House. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
In late July  the White House had just finished an official policy review on transgender individuals serving in the military and President Trump and his then-chief of staff  Reince Priebus  had agreed to meet in the Oval Office to discuss the four options awaiting  [TGT]  in a decision memo.
But then   [TGT]   unexpectedly preempted the conversation and sent   [TGT]   entire administration scrambling  by tweeting out   [TGT]   own decision â that the government would not allow transgender individuals to serve â just moments later.
â âOh my God   he  just tweeted this â â Priebus said  according to a new book by Howard Kurtz  who hosts Fox Newsâs âMedia Buzz.â There was  Kurtz writes  âno longer a need for the meeting.â
The White House â and the politerati diaspora â has just barely stopped reeling from author Michael Wolffâs account of life in  Trump âs West Wing  âFire and Fury: Inside  the Trump White House  â and now another life-in-the-White-House book is about to drop  this one from Kurtz.
Like the books that came before it  and almost certainly like the ones still to come  Kurtzâs book  âMedia Madness:   [TGT] The Press  And The War Over The Truth â offers a portrait of a White House riven by chaos  with aides scrambling to respond to the presidentâs impulses and writing policy to fit his tweets  according to excerpts obtained by The Washington Post.
Stephen K. Bannon isnât the only person offering a candid assessment about the   [TGT]   administration in the book âFire and Fury: Inside  the Trump White House â by Michael Wolff. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
Kurtz  who worked at The Post from 1981 to 2010  writes that   [TGT] aides even privately coined a term for   [TGT] behavior â âDefiance Disorder.â The phrase refers to  [TGT] seeming compulsion to do whatever it is   [TGT]   advisers are most strongly urging against  leaving   [TGT]   team to handle the fallout.
Early in the administration  Kurtz describes White House aides waking up one Saturday morning in March  confused and âblindsided â to find that   [TGT] had â without any evidence â accused former president Barack Obama on Twitter of wiretapping  [TGT]  during the campaign.
In another scene  Kurtz paints a largely positive picture of Trumpâs daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law  Jared Kushner  but notes â as has been previously reported â that   [TGT]   repeatedly worried whether the couple were making the right decision moving to Washington to take jobs in   [TGT]   administration.
  [TGT] had reason for concern. At one point  Kurtz writes that Stephen K. Bannon â Trumpâs former chief strategist who was a key on-the-record source for Wolffâs book and seems likely to have talked to Kurtz â dresses down the presidentâs daughter early in the administration.
Kurtz also recounts an Oval Office meeting in which Bannon blamed Ivanka for a leak â and   [TGT]   supported  [TGT]  over  [TGT]  daughter: â âBaby  I think Steveâs right here â   [TGT] told  her .â
Bannon  Kurtz writes  told   [TGT] when he left the White House in August that he planned to go after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)  saying his main goal was âto bring him down.â
â  [TGT]   said that was fine  that Bannon should go ahead â Kurtz writes.
By Kurtzâs telling  Trumpâs approach to replacing Priebus as chief of staff with John F. Kelly  who was then homeland security secretary  was also not exactly standard operating procedure.  [TGT] announced the decision without telling Priebus and without having made a formal offer to Kelly â  [TGT]  writes.
In the excerpts  counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway emerges as one of the few calming presences on  [TGT]  . When  on his first full day as president    [TGT] wanted to send Sean Spicer  then the White House press secretary  out to attack the media for correctly reporting the crowd size  Conway initially tried to talk him out of it.