Trump campaign was full of odd characters vying for then-candidate Donald Trump‘s interest. But not everyone in the now-president’s inner circle benefited from his 2016 win. A new book allegedly reveals why Trump and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie parted ways—and it’s not pretty.
In Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency, Bloomberg, journalist Joshua Green tracks the Trump campaign’s rise to success alongside Trump’s partnership with former Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon. Green is privy to piles of off-stage drama between Trump and his various advisers, including his relationship with Christie and former campaign manager Paul Manafort.
One of the most shocking revelations: Green reports that Trump parted ways with Christie over the governor’s phone germs.
During election night, Christie entered the Trump campaign’s election night office, where Trump was monitoring the returns. It was clear that Trump was about to become president-elect. Former President Barack Obama had contacted Christie in order to extend a congratulatory call. Christie offered to hand his phone to Trump so he could field Obama’s well-wishes.
But according to the book, Trump “flashed a look of annoyance, clearly resenting the intrusion,” in part because he was “repulsed by the idea of having somebody else’s phone next to his face.”
“You know my number, just give it to the President. I don’t want your fucking phone,” Trump—a known germophobe—reportedly yelled at Christie. This would ultimately cause a falling out between the two men, which would lead Trump to pass on Christie for any positions in the Cabinet.
“Christie’s miscalculation came in assuming that absolute fealty and submission to Trump’s views was what the businessman wanted,” the Washington Post‘s Chris Cillizza wrote earlier this year. “Trump, in fact, seems to revel in creating discord and disagreement within his advisers—and even himself.”
Devil’s Bargain features several other stories shedding light onto drama within the Trump campaign. Green reports that Trump fired Manafort after reports suggested that Trump aides were doing interviews on cable TV in order to catch his attention. Trump proceeded to harshly criticize his campaign manager before letting him go in mid-August.
“You think you’ve gotta go on TV to talk to me? You treat me like a baby. … Am I like a baby to you?” Trump reportedly yelled at Manafort, Paste quotes from the book. “I sit there like a little baby and watch TV and you talk to me? Am I a fucking baby, Paul?”
Manafort was also in the midst of a scandal involving his business deals with pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine.
For more inner looks into the Trump campaign, Joshua Green’s book is now available on Amazon.
H/T Paste