Author and media provocateur Michael Wolff, long known for stirring controversy, found himself back in the spotlight with the release of his bombshell book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Based on what Wolff claimed was frequent access to the West Wing and over 200 interviews—including one with Donald Trump himself—the book offers an incendiary behind-the-scenes look at the early days of the Trump presidency.
As excerpts from Fire and Fury surfaced ahead of its original January 9 release date, the White House was thrown into damage-control mode. Aides scrambled to respond to the book’s most damning claims, while the publisher, citing “unprecedented demand,” moved up the release to January 5.
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Wolff tweeted sarcastically, after Trump’s angry response helped fuel media interest.
A Book That Blew Open Deep Divisions
The book quickly ignited a public feud between Trump and his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who is quoted extensively in the text criticizing Trump, his children, and administration officials. Trump responded with a rare official statement condemning Bannon and calling the book “fiction.”
“I authorized zero access to White House… for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations, and sources that don’t exist,” Trump wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders echoed Trump’s outrage, calling the book “complete fantasy” and citing “mistake after mistake after mistake.” She said the White House had turned down more than 20 interview requests from Wolff.
Still, Wolff stood by his reporting. In his introduction, he acknowledged the chaos inside the White House often produced contradictory stories, writing:
“Many, in Trumpian fashion, are baldly untrue… I settled on a version of events I believe to be true.”
A Legacy of Controversy
Wolff, 64, has made a career out of chronicling the lives of the rich and powerful, including media magnate Rupert Murdoch. Known for his biting prose and appetite for drama, Wolff has often been criticized for inaccuracies and an overly stylized approach to journalism.
“One of the problems with Wolff’s omniscience is that while he may know all, he gets some of it wrong,” the late New York Times columnist David Carr once wrote, citing factual errors in Wolff’s 1988 book on Murdoch.
Yet Fire and Fury found defenders as well. Janice Min, co-owner of The Hollywood Reporter, confirmed the accuracy of a dinner scene in the book involving Bannon and the late Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.
“I was one of the six guests at the Bannon-Ailes dinner in January 2017, and every word I’ve seen from the book about it is absolutely accurate,” Min tweeted.
White House Access and Media Strategy
Despite claims that Trump denied him access, Wolff was spotted repeatedly in the White House with a “blue badge” that allowed him extended entry into the West Wing. Former officials said he often waited for hours in the lobby, chatting casually with staffers as they walked by.
In a prescient February 2017 Newsweek column, Wolff predicted the ongoing standoff between Trump and the media could evolve into a mutually beneficial arrangement.
“It is not at all unlikely that each side, no matter how determined to kill the other, emerges into a new and beneficial normal—with media ratings and profits soaring and the many Trump dramas commanding our undivided attention,” Wolff wrote. “Until one side makes an error or gains the advantage—and there’s a kill.”
A Reluctant Media Star
Wolff has never shied away from self-reflection—or self-promotion. Once lamenting the media’s shifting attention during his divorce, he joked: “You think, well, what am I, chopped liver?”
Obscurity is no longer his problem.
Whether viewed as fearless journalism or sensationalized gossip, Fire and Fury has become a cultural flashpoint, cementing Michael Wolff’s place as one of the most polarizing figures in political media—and throwing gasoline on an already combustible presidency.
