My phone rings.
asserted
phone → ring → ?
I do.
asserted
I → do → ?
President Trump: “What are you doing tomorrow for lunch?”
Me: “Having lunch with you.”
asserted
you → do → you
Working for Trump wasn’t just a huge mistake.
asserted
Working → work → Trump
It gave me the opportunity to make a lot of other huge mistakes.
asserted
It → give → mistakes
I got famous for them, and in the fallout, my whole life looked like it would fall apart.
asserted
it → get → fallout
The previous January, Trump had offered me a job: director of the Office of Public Liaison, the White House unit that interacts with interest groups.
asserted
that → offer → groups
Reince Priebus, Trump’s chief of staff, blocked that appointment.
asserted
Priebus → block → appointment
Steve Bannon, the chief strategist, was also against my working in the White House.
asserted
my → work → House
The Kushner group made up one silo in the administration.
asserted
group → make → administration
Priebus made another silo: the Republican National Committee.
asserted
Priebus → make → silo
All silos were mutually hostile: Priebus and Bannon were leaking on each other constantly.
asserted
Priebus → leak → other
But they allied in not wanting me anywhere near Trump.
asserted
they → ally → Trump
I called Trump to tell him my job had been blocked and I didn’t want to fight with Priebus.
asserted
I → call → Priebus
I also told him he was going to have problems with Bannon and Priebus, and when he did, he could call me and I’d help him fix it.
uncertain
him → tell → it
I said it cavalierly, egocentrically.
asserted
I → say → it
“Call me if you ever need help with those bad guys.”
asserted
you → call → guys
I didn’t know if he’d ever call.
asserted
he → know → ?
But in July the phone rings, and the White House operator is asking me to hold for the president.
asserted
operator → ring → president
On the phone, Trump tells me to avoid the press outside the White House by going to the East Wing entrance.
asserted
Trump → tell → entrance
He’ll have an escort waiting to take me to the study off the Oval Office.
asserted
escort → have → Office
When I get to the study, we sit down and he says, “Yeah, you were right about Priebus and Bannon; I need to get rid of them.
asserted
I → get → them
You’re a New Yorker.
asserted
You → ’re → ?
You and I always got along.
asserted
You → get → ?
I want to bring you in.”
asserted
I → want → you
He calls the White House operations guy.
asserted
He → call → guy
The guy reminds him he’d never replaced Mike Dubke, who had resigned as communications director.
asserted
who → remind → director
Trump hangs up and says, “You’re going to be comms director.”
asserted
You → hang → ?
I have no experience.
asserted
I → have → experience
How the hell am I going to do that job?
asserted
I → go → job
Trump’s attitude was more like: it’s just like the campaign – we’ll figure it out together.
asserted
we → ’ → it
So I left the White House that day in July, scheduled to return the next morning for a meeting in the Oval Office to announce my new position.
asserted
I → leave → position
I checked into Trump’s DC hotel.
asserted
I → check → hotel
Meanwhile, Priebus and Bannon started freaking out.
asserted
Priebus → start → ?
The operations guy must have called them and tipped them off, and they were desperate to make sure I didn’t get the job.
asserted
I → call → job
The next morning, I was having a cup of coffee at the hotel when my phone rang: Priebus and Bannon.
asserted
phone → have → hotel
They offered me ambassadorships – Paris, or I could pick one – but told me I couldn’t come to the White House.
uncertain
I → offer → House
To capture the tone of White House interactions in general, and my style in that particular moment, I have to put it this way: I basically told them to go fuck themselves.
asserted
I → capture → themselves
They asked me to meet with them before the Oval Office announcement.
asserted
They → ask → announcement
So I met with them in the chief of staff’s office and called them dicks who were leaking on each other and hurting the president.
asserted
who → meet → president
…and 166 more, not listed.
The Aporia
