Trump targets book threatens ex
Donald Trump Jr.
âFire and Fury: Inside the Trump White Houseâ by Michael Wolff  due out on Tuesday  set off a political firestorm with its portrayal of  Trump  as not particularly wanting to win the presidency in 2016 and unprepared for the job.
Charles Harder   Trump âs personal lawyer  provided a legal notice to Reuters that warned of possible claims including libel against Wolff and publisher Henry Holt & Co and said they would try to block publication of the book.
 Trump  cut ties with Bannon on Wednesday  saying  his  former adviser had âlost  his  mind â in a blistering statement issued after comments attributed to Bannon in the book were made public.
 Trump  lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bannon on Wednesday asking him not to disclose any confidential information. They said Bannon had breached an agreement by communicating with Wolff about  Trump    his  family and the campaign and made âdisparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statementsâ about them.
In the book  Bannon was quoted as describing a June 2016 meeting with a group of Russians at Trump Tower in New York as âtreasonousâ and âunpatriotic.â The meeting  held after the Russians promised damaging information on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton  was attended by Donald Trump Jr.  Trumpâs son-in-law Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort  who was Trumpâs campaign manager at the time.
Trumpâs statement also diminished Bannonâs role in the election victory and accused him of leaking to the media. Before joining the campaign  Bannon had headed conservative Breitbart News website and he proved to be a divisive figure in the White House. He returned to Breitbart after being fired  although he reportedly continued to talk with  Trump .
Bannonâs reaction to the book controversy has been muted. In interviews with Breitbart News after the news broke  he called  Trump  a âgreat manâ and pledged continued support for his agenda.
The president took note. âHe called me a great man last night so he obviously changed his tune pretty quick â  Trump  told reporters on Thursday. âI donât talk to him. Thatâs a misnomer.â
A lawsuit could hurt  Trump  because Bannonâs lawyers would be entitled to interview White House officials and collect potentially damaging documents from them in his defense  Moss said.
Bannon helped  Trump  shape a populist  anti-establishment message and had been the presidentâs link to his hard-line conservative base of support  which is often at odds with the Republican Party establishment.
The story that triggered the Trump-Bannon split was an offshoot of the investigation into whether  Trump  campaign aides colluded with Russia to sway the election to  Trump   allegations  Trump  and Moscow deny.
âFire and Fury: Inside the Trump White Houseâ by Michael Wolff  due out on Tuesday  set off a political firestorm with its portrayal of  Trump  as not particularly wanting to win the presidency in 2016 and unprepared for the job.
Charles Harder   Trump âs personal lawyer  provided a legal notice to Reuters that warned of possible claims including libel against Wolff and publisher Henry Holt & Co and said they would try to block publication of the book.
 Trump  cut ties with Bannon on Wednesday  saying  his  former adviser had âlost  his  mind â in a blistering statement issued after comments attributed to Bannon in the book were made public.
 Trump  lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bannon on Wednesday asking him not to disclose any confidential information. They said Bannon had breached an agreement by communicating with Wolff about  Trump    his  family and the campaign and made âdisparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statementsâ about them.
In the book  Bannon was quoted as describing a June 2016 meeting with a group of Russians at Trump Tower in New York as âtreasonousâ and âunpatriotic.â The meeting  held after the Russians promised damaging information on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton  was attended by Donald Trump Jr.  Trumpâs son-in-law Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort  who was Trumpâs campaign manager at the time.
Trumpâs statement also diminished Bannonâs role in the election victory and accused him of leaking to the media. Before joining the campaign  Bannon had headed conservative Breitbart News website and he proved to be a divisive figure in the White House. He returned to Breitbart after being fired  although he reportedly continued to talk with  [TGT]  .
Bannonâs reaction to the book controversy has been muted. In interviews with Breitbart News after the news broke  he called   [TGT]   a âgreat manâ and pledged continued support for his agenda.
The president took note. âHe called me a great man last night so he obviously changed his tune pretty quick â   [TGT] told reporters on Thursday. âI donât talk to him. Thatâs a misnomer.â
A lawsuit could hurt   [TGT] because Bannonâs lawyers would be entitled to interview White House officials and collect potentially damaging documents from them in  [TGT]  defense  Moss said.
 [TGT]  helped   [TGT]   shape a populist  anti-establishment message and had been the presidentâs link to  [TGT]  hard-line conservative base of support  which is often at odds with the Republican Party establishment.
The story that triggered the Trump-Bannon split was an offshoot of the investigation into whether   [TGT]   campaign aides colluded with Russia to sway the election to   [TGT]    allegations   [TGT] and Moscow deny.