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I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER
Stephanie Grisham rose from being a junior press wrangler on the Trump campaign in 2016 to assuming top positions in the administration as White House press secretary and communications director, while at the same time acting as First Lady Melania Trump's communications director and eventually chief of staff. Few members of the Trump inner circle served longer or were as close to the first family as Stephanie Grisham, and few have her unique insight into the turbulent four years of the administration, especially the personalities behind the headlines.
I'll Take Your Questions Now is a White House memoir like no other, written by someone no longer bound by the codes of spin, denial, and twisted loyalty that the Trump administration imposed on all its members. Here is a brutally honest, frequently funny, and always perceptive look behind the scenes of a White House that was in turmoil from day one.
After an early stint in the White House press office, Grisham moved to the East Wing to work for First Lady Melania Trump. This introduced Grisham to a whole new perspective on Trump World, and she soon became a devoted adviser to the first lady, privy to Melania Trump's most candid thoughts on every imaginable topic and noteworthy events: Jared and Ivanka, Stormy Daniels, the first lady's infamous jacket that read "I Really Don't Care, Do U?" and much more.
Grisham's work for the first lady would lead to her appointment as the White House press secretary in 2019. As one of the few figures in the Trump White House to last all four years, Grisham shares her unfiltered view of the whole experience--from the early days when she was seduced by the glamour and power of Trump World to her quickly ascending career in a frequently toxic, dog-eat-dog workplace, to the pinnacles of her profession, where she soon faced the harshest lessons of flying too close to the sun.
Grisham's memoir is also a personal reckoning from someone who was a true believer, tracing her dawning awareness of how the administration began to lose sight of its mission--serving the people--in its constant battles with the press and other politicians and, above all, in the unending internal drama that consumed a rowdy cast of advisers, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, and the president and first lady themselves. It is a story that ends in tragedy with the events of January 6, 2021, the day on which Grisham was the first administration official to quit, a long-overdue severing of ties with the people who had brought her to the job of a lifetime but at enormous cost. It is an account in which Grisham spares no one, not even herself.
I'll Take Your Questions Now is not just about politics or the White House. It is about loyalty and family, learning and screwing up, proud moments and monumental regrets, narcissism and humility, love and heartbreak, friendships and loss, and, of course, falling down and trying your damnedest to get back up.
Stephanie Grisham rose from being a junior press wrangler on the Trump campaign in 2016 to assuming top positions in the administration as White House press secretary and communications director, while at the same time acting as First Lady Melania Trump's communications director and eventually chief of staff. Few members of the Trump inner circle served longer or were as close to the first family as Stephanie Grisham, and few have her unique insight into the turbulent four years of the administration, especially the personalities behind the headlines.
I'll Take Your Questions Now is a White House memoir like no other, written by someone no longer bound by the codes of spin, denial, and twisted loyalty that the Trump administration imposed on all its members. Here is a brutally honest, frequently funny, and always perceptive look behind the scenes of a White House that was in turmoil from day one.
After an early stint in the White House press office, Grisham moved to the East Wing to work for First Lady Melania Trump. This introduced Grisham to a whole new perspective on Trump World, and she soon became a devoted adviser to the first lady, privy to Melania Trump's most candid thoughts on every imaginable topic and noteworthy events: Jared and Ivanka, Stormy Daniels, the first lady's infamous jacket that read "I Really Don't Care, Do U?" and much more.
Grisham's work for the first lady would lead to her appointment as the White House press secretary in 2019. As one of the few figures in the Trump White House to last all four years, Grisham shares her unfiltered view of the whole experience--from the early days when she was seduced by the glamour and power of Trump World to her quickly ascending career in a frequently toxic, dog-eat-dog workplace, to the pinnacles of her profession, where she soon faced the harshest lessons of flying too close to the sun.
Grisham's memoir is also a personal reckoning from someone who was a true believer, tracing her dawning awareness of how the administration began to lose sight of its mission--serving the people--in its constant battles with the press and other politicians and, above all, in the unending internal drama that consumed a rowdy cast of advisers, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, and the president and first lady themselves. It is a story that ends in tragedy with the events of January 6, 2021, the day on which Grisham was the first administration official to quit, a long-overdue severing of ties with the people who had brought her to the job of a lifetime but at enormous cost. It is an account in which Grisham spares no one, not even herself.
I'll Take Your Questions Now is not just about politics or the White House. It is about loyalty and family, learning and screwing up, proud moments and monumental regrets, narcissism and humility, love and heartbreak, friendships and loss, and, of course, falling down and trying your damnedest to get back up.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published October 5, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 572 reviews
November 4, 2021
In any other circumstance, I would probably enjoy having a drink with Stephanie. She seems like an intelligent woman or at least writes like one. The problem I would have is that she was a complicit enabler of a man who is a criminal. And throughout the book, I suspected that she knew that, but just didn't care. She was blinded by ambition, by the pretty little toys dangled in front of her, by the "power" of those she associated with. She didn't want to see the obvious which made me so so disappointed in her. I like women with ambition, with drive, with moxie, with a progressive outlook on life & she had all of that (okay, the progressive part maybe not so much which would explain the ugly nasty boyfriend part; Steph, you need girlfriends who will be honest with you especially when it comes to men). Yet she couldn't see the destructiveness of Donald Trump. She explained away most of his deplorable traits &, from being in real estate for ages in the NYC area, it must have taken an enormous amount of psychic energy to ignore & then paint over horrible nature of him as well as his blatant criminality.
In addition, Melania Trump cannot be redeemed - Steph, you tried, but every woman knows THAT kind of woman & she's indefensible no matter how you try to package it. Even at the end of the book, you were still trying to defend her & rehabilitate her as something more than an ex porn girl who slept her way to a bank account. It was funny to see the conflict between Princess Sparkle (Ivanka) & Malaria, but it also highlighted the vapidness of these women, the total pettiness & disregard they hold & display towards each other & the rest of the world. Again, there's no defense for Malaria & the world would certainly be a MUCH better place without either of them. I also don't buy that Malaria has any great "love" for her son - he's one more pawn in the transactional world that the Trump's create & inhabit. These people are scum.
I hope Stephanie finds some peace now that she's out of Morder. I give her credit for trying to make a POS into something palatable, but that could never happen with anything Trump. If she were smart, she'd start spending time with some strong women - Katy Porter, Elizabeth Warren. These women are intelligent & Stephanie is, too. And the best part is that, unlike Malaria, they will extend a hand to help her up, to support her, to enable her to become the best person she can be. And she does have that potential now that she's out of the shadows of criminals & grifters.
In addition, Melania Trump cannot be redeemed - Steph, you tried, but every woman knows THAT kind of woman & she's indefensible no matter how you try to package it. Even at the end of the book, you were still trying to defend her & rehabilitate her as something more than an ex porn girl who slept her way to a bank account. It was funny to see the conflict between Princess Sparkle (Ivanka) & Malaria, but it also highlighted the vapidness of these women, the total pettiness & disregard they hold & display towards each other & the rest of the world. Again, there's no defense for Malaria & the world would certainly be a MUCH better place without either of them. I also don't buy that Malaria has any great "love" for her son - he's one more pawn in the transactional world that the Trump's create & inhabit. These people are scum.
I hope Stephanie finds some peace now that she's out of Morder. I give her credit for trying to make a POS into something palatable, but that could never happen with anything Trump. If she were smart, she'd start spending time with some strong women - Katy Porter, Elizabeth Warren. These women are intelligent & Stephanie is, too. And the best part is that, unlike Malaria, they will extend a hand to help her up, to support her, to enable her to become the best person she can be. And she does have that potential now that she's out of the shadows of criminals & grifters.
January 16, 2022
IV. to be revised*
*1/16/22: not. I left this unfinished due to an urgent personal situation. And now that she's read her book to the 1/6 Commission and provided them a few names and phone numbers they already had, now that she's doing a second round of teevee, I won't. Done. I have plenty of issues with the present government but the difference is I believe most of them a) know how the government works and b) some, maybe most, are sincerely trying to make it better.
If you disagree, there's a white hat the former part-time first lady wore to meet Macron and his wife and other Stuff of hers you can bid on. In any other administration these would have gone to the presidential library (there won't be one), the Smithsonian (museum? no money in it) or the National Archives (suing: so many lawsuits). You can bid now; the prices are falling faster than a Capitol police officer hit with a Confederate flag.
III. rev. 10/25
During first state visit by Chinese President Xi Jaoping & c. at Mar-a-Lago...
...our Chinese counterparts took us to lunch. I found it odd that they insisted that we sit in specific seats and downright creepy when I found that my tablemates knew a whole lot of personal information about me. I am all for doing a quick Google search before you sit next to someone in a professional or social situation, but that was much more in depth.
hits clicker: What is intel, Mayim?
🧹
A Life-Changing Moment for Stephanie, aboard Air Force One:
As I was standing watch, John McEntee, the president’s body man, approached me. John had been with the president from the beginning. “Do you have any face powder?” he asked me before going on to say that the president felt he looked “shiny”...
I wasn't sure how I felt about the president using my makeup and immediately worried that the compact didn't look clean...I grabbed my powder out of my bag but explained to John that I had obviously been using it, figuring that would make it a no-go for our germaphobe president. But John just smiled. "It'll be fine, you're good looking," he said, a bit oddly.
Not going to lie, it thrilled me that during one of the most important speeches up to that point in the administration, the president of the United States was wearing my makeup.
🧹
Regarding a Coat Worn by Melania Trump to 45's First G7 Summit
On Friday, May 26, 2017, I had my first brush with a PR disaster...I knew what Mrs. Trump planned to wear that day from Herve's trusty look book. It included a sketch of a coat, along with a photograph. Alongside that Herve had put a description: "Dolce & Gabbana all over embroidered cocoon coat with multi-colored silk flowers"...The description and Herve's sketch were a lot more appealing to me than the photo of the actual coat, which to me looked like a jacket that my grandmother would wear. But as per usual, when I actually saw Melania Trump wearing it, she was stunning.
I was shocked at how heavy the damn thing was...The things one does for fashion.
We were greeted by a cheering crowd, and Mrs. Trump flashed them all a smile as she walked inside the building, that heavy-ass flowered coat 'casually' hanging over her shoulders...I started getting calls from the press. They were all about the cost of the heavy jacket. Apparently the thing had cost $51,500, and after all the visits and trips we had been on, including to the little boy who'd received a heart transplant, that was the big story.
"First lady Melania Trump wore the equivalent of an average American family's income on her back for her appearances Friday in Sicily, Italy," scolded USA today. CNN obsessively reported that it was "by far the most expensive item of clothing Trump has worn this entire trip. At least CNN got the price tag right. Most other outlets just lazily rounded down to $51,000....
...all the good work and interesting things Mrs. Trump had done on that trip might as well have never happened at all. Those were the moments when, for all the mistakes we'd made, it felt like we just couldn't win. It's not as if Michelle Obama and Laura Bush walked around in burlap sacks."
🧹
That other coat gets addressed as well, the one she wore to visit kidcages in Texas, the one that said on the back I DON'T REALLY CARE, DO U?
"I protested again: if she didn't care about the kids...she clearly wouldn't have gone to Texas in the first place...Then I went to take a look at the damn jacket..."Does your jacket say something on the back? Because I am starting to get inquiries." At that moment the first lady had a look on her face, the kind you might have when you know you fucked something up...I asked her why she had worn it, and she said, "It's just a jacket"
At one point Mrs. Trump asked if we could put a circle and cross through the "don't" portion of the jacket, as if the reporters had gotten it wrong. That was a creative suggestion, at least...
🧹
Melania Goes to Africa
First Ladies are expected to Do Things. Melania Trump wanted to be First Lady. But she didn't want to Do Things. Her Be Best agenda was incoherent and the cyberbullying component called out for being, oh, a tad hypocritical. The time came when she chose to follow protocol and take an international trip to promote her agenda. So she Be'd her Best, liposuctioned it up and went.
...she wanted to go somewhere no other first lady had been...After a few weeks, we decided on Africa....we finally settled on Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt...we planned for each stop to have cultural, educational, and diplomatic components, while trying to promote the pillars of Be Best. She had also agreed to do her first-ever solo sit-down interview...She had a very specific look in mind in terms of the background for the interview, so we decided to do it in Kenya."
First they went to Ghana.
There we visited the Cape Coast Castle, one of around forty 'slave castles' that had served as prisons for slaves en route to the Americas...We felt their pain, their misery, almost understood what it must have been like to have been treated as cattle.
OUR VISIT TO MALAWI changed my life. It just did. It is a poor country but full of people who are so welcoming and do so much with so little. To this day I tell everyone that I would move there if I could. In fact, I told the president more than once that I wanted to be an ambassador there, which confused him every time I said it. “I would peg you as a European girl or just somewhere more elegant,” he’d reply.
"We had only one stop in Malawi, and that was to visit the Chipala Primary School....There were no desks in any of the buildings, so many of the classes were held outside, with the children sitting in the red-brown dirt...She spoke to some of the children, saying "Hello. How are you?"...She even got in on a little soccer game with some of the children when she was handing out soccer balls we had branded "The White House."
On to Kenya, and Melania Trump's first solo interview:
I wanted her to come across as the thoughtful, poised woman that she is.,,Both she and the president were particular about lighting, always wanting it to be as “warm” as possible.
She wore tight khaki pants, high riding boots, and a crisp white shirt, and she was holding a white hat that looked exactly like what would appear if you googled “safari hat.” I liked the hat, but I worried that she might look...as though we had dressed her up as Safari Barbie. Little did we know that a mere ten hours later, the hat would turn out to be our third major fashion blunder and would dominate the headlines as “racist” and “out of touch.”
After that interview we visited and fed baby elephants, which was incredibly fun for me and I think scary as hell for her. Remember, the Trumps are not really animal people--*
From Kenya we headed to Egypt...By that time the “news” had hit about what Mrs. Trump had worn on the Kenyan safari, including the safari hat we had debated over. Apparently the hat Mrs. Trump had worn on the safari was also known as a pith helmet, which to her critics meant she was deliberately brandishing a symbol of colonialism and white supremacy...many [of the press] were using their favorite mode to complain: Twitter.
*Aides had to use lies of omission with 45 so he would allow the body of Former President George H.W. Bush on Air Force One to journey to his funeral along with his service dog Sully. Trump didn't want to give him the honor in the first place. Also he dislikes Bushes. And dogs. Per Grisham, Donald Trump dislikes dogs because their hair sheds on Things. Perhaps he is jealous they have so much hair it can fall out and not be missed, and it doesn't need to be glued down. Per Stephanie Grisham, Trump also dislikes dead bodies. Except perhaps Jeffrey Epstein's?
🧹🧹🧹
II. rev. 10/14
Trump White House, their first White House lawn Easter Egg Hunt. Melania did not want to attend. Fashion designer Rachel Roy aka Becky with the Good Hair was part of meeting in The People's House, East Wing, meeting for the purpose of vital decision: what color should the eggs be?
The Big Day Arrives:
...a frown crossed the first lady’s face. “I don’t like what he is wearing,” she said, eyeing the plaid vest the bunny had on. She felt it was tacky and distracting. Then and there, only minutes before he was to hop out onto the White House lawn, Melania Trump made the Easter bunny strip...
AS THE YEARS WENT on, the Easter Egg Roll became one of my favorite holiday events. The planning that went into it was intense...One year someone thought it would be a good idea to serve hard-boiled eggs on a stick to the children; they were disgusting.*
*Melania? Circumstantial evidence: she made the Easter Bunny strip, why wouldn't she serve kids hard-boiled eggs on a stick.
The Trumps Go to Camp David for the First Time: A Short Story About Urgent National Priorities:
On her first visit, the first lady went to turn on the shower, only to find it ice cold. The president had used up all the hot water. That sort of thing didn’t happen at a Trump property...
The president had his own issues with the water at Camp David. Every time we were there, he complained about the “soft” water and the water pressure, both of which he claimed were bad for his hair. There is no way to describe exactly how he styles that magnificent and very wild mane of his...Dan Walsh, then a deputy chief of staff for operations, had water samples taken from Mar-a-Lago, Bedminster, and Trump Tower so that staff could determine the ideal water softness/hardness and replicate it at Camp David and ideally also at the White House.
🧹🧹🧹
I. 10/8
This "tell-all" (she has nothing to tell, really) is ghostwritten by some hack for Melania's former bff and number two in her coven, which is why I selected it as part of my three-volume witch week inspired by a 'real-life' bitter, vicious hag. Not sure about hag, but vicious and bitter apply to Stephanie Grisham and Melania too. I've only read 10% and 10% has been tough but I've laughed out loud -- not with her, at her. I wanted to make this the keystone of my three-book witch reads and in this book you get two witches for one, actually more when Ivanka, etc. come into it. This book combines
-- Cohenian self-pity that she's no longer on the inside
I liked them and I disliked them and I miss them and I hope I never see them again.
-- disingenuous, oblivious Blatantly Obnoxious Things (see long quote below) and
-- vengeance via info essential to the historical record if the U.S. survives to have a historical record: Trump told her on the press plane that “Trudeau’s mom. She [redacted] all of the Rolling Stones.”
I will be changing quotes and commentary in this space regularly and posting highlights as I did with Cohen. All comparisons don't end there but my discussion of Cohen does. This bit of ghastly ghostwriting had me clenching my teeth because I couldn't help but compare this to, oh, all the dead black people who don't miss Trump & Melania and the power and the ability to get a big paycheck courtesy of taxpayers to be press secretary and never have a single press conference.
Melania's former bestie is so wrapped in privilege she either truly believes her experience is on a par with that of the dead or she is so enrobed in White Lives Matter she cannot see the irony of what she with her bargain-basement ghostwriter is saying here:
Sean
[Spicer, of the blatant lie and doctored visuals about the size of Trump's inauguration crowd who went from the White House to Dancing with the Stars and now works for a right-wing streaming service, Newsmax, that competes with Faux News for most lies per minute}
offered me the job of deputy press secretary. Lindsay Walters from the RNC was also given that title, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders was named principal deputy press secretary. For me, the job offer was truly a dream come true. For as long as I could remember, I’d wanted to be White House press secretary “when I grow up.”
As soon as I hung up, my heart sank. I remembered the two DUIs I had received back in Arizona. Of course, I had noted them on my background and security clearance forms, along with an explanation of each, but I knew that as deputy press secretary I would be taking on a much more public role in the administration. And I figured that nobody would care about the backstory. Reporters and Democrats would not care that five years prior, I had not noticed the speed limit change from forty-five to thirty-five miles per hour and been pulled over and admitted to having drunk two glasses of wine, which had resulted in a reckless driving charge.
[paragraph break is mine; like Trump's speeches many sentences and paragraphs go on. and on. and on. bolded parts also mine.]
They wouldn’t care that Arizona has the strictest DUI laws in the country (which I have no objection to). And certainly no one would believe the story of the second incident, which was that I had been at a Christmas party for work and was moving my car to a parking lot so someone else could drive me home. In the time it took to back out of the street parking and drive across the street, a policeman noticed that my headlights weren’t on and pulled me over—ironically in the parking lot I had intended to keep my car in for the night.
Ironically George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, etc. etc. etc. etc. intended to stay alive for many more nights. Poor, poor Stephanie Grisham. Let's all (since she can't get a decent job, she says) take a moment to pout on her behalf and send her copies of White Fragility or the book of your choice.
I'll be adding and/or changing the quotes as I proceed through the book. This is my space. Comments sympathetic to or defending Grisham, the Trumps, any of the treasonous, seditious, lying, cheating, greedy, thieving, deluded (see Giuliani, Rudy) crowd of criminals as well as any defending what was done on January 6th, promoting The Big Lie, etc. will be deleted. To quote a Talking Heads song that is appropriate, "I ain't got time for that now."
If you want to avoid paying for or waiting for this book, or would never read it but want to be a looky-loo at what she's not saying on teevee to sell her book, watch this space for pearls from Grisham -- hypothetically yanked by me from around her neck while she's clutching them -- possible snark and who knows what lies ahead, maybe some "fillet of a fenny snake." 🧹
*1/16/22: not. I left this unfinished due to an urgent personal situation. And now that she's read her book to the 1/6 Commission and provided them a few names and phone numbers they already had, now that she's doing a second round of teevee, I won't. Done. I have plenty of issues with the present government but the difference is I believe most of them a) know how the government works and b) some, maybe most, are sincerely trying to make it better.
If you disagree, there's a white hat the former part-time first lady wore to meet Macron and his wife and other Stuff of hers you can bid on. In any other administration these would have gone to the presidential library (there won't be one), the Smithsonian (museum? no money in it) or the National Archives (suing: so many lawsuits). You can bid now; the prices are falling faster than a Capitol police officer hit with a Confederate flag.
III. rev. 10/25
During first state visit by Chinese President Xi Jaoping & c. at Mar-a-Lago...
...our Chinese counterparts took us to lunch. I found it odd that they insisted that we sit in specific seats and downright creepy when I found that my tablemates knew a whole lot of personal information about me. I am all for doing a quick Google search before you sit next to someone in a professional or social situation, but that was much more in depth.
hits clicker: What is intel, Mayim?
🧹
A Life-Changing Moment for Stephanie, aboard Air Force One:
As I was standing watch, John McEntee, the president’s body man, approached me. John had been with the president from the beginning. “Do you have any face powder?” he asked me before going on to say that the president felt he looked “shiny”...
I wasn't sure how I felt about the president using my makeup and immediately worried that the compact didn't look clean...I grabbed my powder out of my bag but explained to John that I had obviously been using it, figuring that would make it a no-go for our germaphobe president. But John just smiled. "It'll be fine, you're good looking," he said, a bit oddly.
Not going to lie, it thrilled me that during one of the most important speeches up to that point in the administration, the president of the United States was wearing my makeup.
🧹
Regarding a Coat Worn by Melania Trump to 45's First G7 Summit
On Friday, May 26, 2017, I had my first brush with a PR disaster...I knew what Mrs. Trump planned to wear that day from Herve's trusty look book. It included a sketch of a coat, along with a photograph. Alongside that Herve had put a description: "Dolce & Gabbana all over embroidered cocoon coat with multi-colored silk flowers"...The description and Herve's sketch were a lot more appealing to me than the photo of the actual coat, which to me looked like a jacket that my grandmother would wear. But as per usual, when I actually saw Melania Trump wearing it, she was stunning.
I was shocked at how heavy the damn thing was...The things one does for fashion.
We were greeted by a cheering crowd, and Mrs. Trump flashed them all a smile as she walked inside the building, that heavy-ass flowered coat 'casually' hanging over her shoulders...I started getting calls from the press. They were all about the cost of the heavy jacket. Apparently the thing had cost $51,500, and after all the visits and trips we had been on, including to the little boy who'd received a heart transplant, that was the big story.
"First lady Melania Trump wore the equivalent of an average American family's income on her back for her appearances Friday in Sicily, Italy," scolded USA today. CNN obsessively reported that it was "by far the most expensive item of clothing Trump has worn this entire trip. At least CNN got the price tag right. Most other outlets just lazily rounded down to $51,000....
...all the good work and interesting things Mrs. Trump had done on that trip might as well have never happened at all. Those were the moments when, for all the mistakes we'd made, it felt like we just couldn't win. It's not as if Michelle Obama and Laura Bush walked around in burlap sacks."
🧹
That other coat gets addressed as well, the one she wore to visit kidcages in Texas, the one that said on the back I DON'T REALLY CARE, DO U?
"I protested again: if she didn't care about the kids...she clearly wouldn't have gone to Texas in the first place...Then I went to take a look at the damn jacket..."Does your jacket say something on the back? Because I am starting to get inquiries." At that moment the first lady had a look on her face, the kind you might have when you know you fucked something up...I asked her why she had worn it, and she said, "It's just a jacket"
At one point Mrs. Trump asked if we could put a circle and cross through the "don't" portion of the jacket, as if the reporters had gotten it wrong. That was a creative suggestion, at least...
🧹
Melania Goes to Africa
First Ladies are expected to Do Things. Melania Trump wanted to be First Lady. But she didn't want to Do Things. Her Be Best agenda was incoherent and the cyberbullying component called out for being, oh, a tad hypocritical. The time came when she chose to follow protocol and take an international trip to promote her agenda. So she Be'd her Best, liposuctioned it up and went.
...she wanted to go somewhere no other first lady had been...After a few weeks, we decided on Africa....we finally settled on Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt...we planned for each stop to have cultural, educational, and diplomatic components, while trying to promote the pillars of Be Best. She had also agreed to do her first-ever solo sit-down interview...She had a very specific look in mind in terms of the background for the interview, so we decided to do it in Kenya."
First they went to Ghana.
There we visited the Cape Coast Castle, one of around forty 'slave castles' that had served as prisons for slaves en route to the Americas...We felt their pain, their misery, almost understood what it must have been like to have been treated as cattle.
OUR VISIT TO MALAWI changed my life. It just did. It is a poor country but full of people who are so welcoming and do so much with so little. To this day I tell everyone that I would move there if I could. In fact, I told the president more than once that I wanted to be an ambassador there, which confused him every time I said it. “I would peg you as a European girl or just somewhere more elegant,” he’d reply.
"We had only one stop in Malawi, and that was to visit the Chipala Primary School....There were no desks in any of the buildings, so many of the classes were held outside, with the children sitting in the red-brown dirt...She spoke to some of the children, saying "Hello. How are you?"...She even got in on a little soccer game with some of the children when she was handing out soccer balls we had branded "The White House."
On to Kenya, and Melania Trump's first solo interview:
I wanted her to come across as the thoughtful, poised woman that she is.,,Both she and the president were particular about lighting, always wanting it to be as “warm” as possible.
She wore tight khaki pants, high riding boots, and a crisp white shirt, and she was holding a white hat that looked exactly like what would appear if you googled “safari hat.” I liked the hat, but I worried that she might look...as though we had dressed her up as Safari Barbie. Little did we know that a mere ten hours later, the hat would turn out to be our third major fashion blunder and would dominate the headlines as “racist” and “out of touch.”
After that interview we visited and fed baby elephants, which was incredibly fun for me and I think scary as hell for her. Remember, the Trumps are not really animal people--*
From Kenya we headed to Egypt...By that time the “news” had hit about what Mrs. Trump had worn on the Kenyan safari, including the safari hat we had debated over. Apparently the hat Mrs. Trump had worn on the safari was also known as a pith helmet, which to her critics meant she was deliberately brandishing a symbol of colonialism and white supremacy...many [of the press] were using their favorite mode to complain: Twitter.
*Aides had to use lies of omission with 45 so he would allow the body of Former President George H.W. Bush on Air Force One to journey to his funeral along with his service dog Sully. Trump didn't want to give him the honor in the first place. Also he dislikes Bushes. And dogs. Per Grisham, Donald Trump dislikes dogs because their hair sheds on Things. Perhaps he is jealous they have so much hair it can fall out and not be missed, and it doesn't need to be glued down. Per Stephanie Grisham, Trump also dislikes dead bodies. Except perhaps Jeffrey Epstein's?
🧹🧹🧹
II. rev. 10/14
Trump White House, their first White House lawn Easter Egg Hunt. Melania did not want to attend. Fashion designer Rachel Roy aka Becky with the Good Hair was part of meeting in The People's House, East Wing, meeting for the purpose of vital decision: what color should the eggs be?
The Big Day Arrives:
...a frown crossed the first lady’s face. “I don’t like what he is wearing,” she said, eyeing the plaid vest the bunny had on. She felt it was tacky and distracting. Then and there, only minutes before he was to hop out onto the White House lawn, Melania Trump made the Easter bunny strip...
AS THE YEARS WENT on, the Easter Egg Roll became one of my favorite holiday events. The planning that went into it was intense...One year someone thought it would be a good idea to serve hard-boiled eggs on a stick to the children; they were disgusting.*
*Melania? Circumstantial evidence: she made the Easter Bunny strip, why wouldn't she serve kids hard-boiled eggs on a stick.
The Trumps Go to Camp David for the First Time: A Short Story About Urgent National Priorities:
On her first visit, the first lady went to turn on the shower, only to find it ice cold. The president had used up all the hot water. That sort of thing didn’t happen at a Trump property...
The president had his own issues with the water at Camp David. Every time we were there, he complained about the “soft” water and the water pressure, both of which he claimed were bad for his hair. There is no way to describe exactly how he styles that magnificent and very wild mane of his...Dan Walsh, then a deputy chief of staff for operations, had water samples taken from Mar-a-Lago, Bedminster, and Trump Tower so that staff could determine the ideal water softness/hardness and replicate it at Camp David and ideally also at the White House.
🧹🧹🧹
I. 10/8
This "tell-all" (she has nothing to tell, really) is ghostwritten by some hack for Melania's former bff and number two in her coven, which is why I selected it as part of my three-volume witch week inspired by a 'real-life' bitter, vicious hag. Not sure about hag, but vicious and bitter apply to Stephanie Grisham and Melania too. I've only read 10% and 10% has been tough but I've laughed out loud -- not with her, at her. I wanted to make this the keystone of my three-book witch reads and in this book you get two witches for one, actually more when Ivanka, etc. come into it. This book combines
-- Cohenian self-pity that she's no longer on the inside
I liked them and I disliked them and I miss them and I hope I never see them again.
-- disingenuous, oblivious Blatantly Obnoxious Things (see long quote below) and
-- vengeance via info essential to the historical record if the U.S. survives to have a historical record: Trump told her on the press plane that “Trudeau’s mom. She [redacted] all of the Rolling Stones.”
I will be changing quotes and commentary in this space regularly and posting highlights as I did with Cohen. All comparisons don't end there but my discussion of Cohen does. This bit of ghastly ghostwriting had me clenching my teeth because I couldn't help but compare this to, oh, all the dead black people who don't miss Trump & Melania and the power and the ability to get a big paycheck courtesy of taxpayers to be press secretary and never have a single press conference.
Melania's former bestie is so wrapped in privilege she either truly believes her experience is on a par with that of the dead or she is so enrobed in White Lives Matter she cannot see the irony of what she with her bargain-basement ghostwriter is saying here:
Sean
[Spicer, of the blatant lie and doctored visuals about the size of Trump's inauguration crowd who went from the White House to Dancing with the Stars and now works for a right-wing streaming service, Newsmax, that competes with Faux News for most lies per minute}
offered me the job of deputy press secretary. Lindsay Walters from the RNC was also given that title, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders was named principal deputy press secretary. For me, the job offer was truly a dream come true. For as long as I could remember, I’d wanted to be White House press secretary “when I grow up.”
As soon as I hung up, my heart sank. I remembered the two DUIs I had received back in Arizona. Of course, I had noted them on my background and security clearance forms, along with an explanation of each, but I knew that as deputy press secretary I would be taking on a much more public role in the administration. And I figured that nobody would care about the backstory. Reporters and Democrats would not care that five years prior, I had not noticed the speed limit change from forty-five to thirty-five miles per hour and been pulled over and admitted to having drunk two glasses of wine, which had resulted in a reckless driving charge.
[paragraph break is mine; like Trump's speeches many sentences and paragraphs go on. and on. and on. bolded parts also mine.]
They wouldn’t care that Arizona has the strictest DUI laws in the country (which I have no objection to). And certainly no one would believe the story of the second incident, which was that I had been at a Christmas party for work and was moving my car to a parking lot so someone else could drive me home. In the time it took to back out of the street parking and drive across the street, a policeman noticed that my headlights weren’t on and pulled me over—ironically in the parking lot I had intended to keep my car in for the night.
Ironically George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, etc. etc. etc. etc. intended to stay alive for many more nights. Poor, poor Stephanie Grisham. Let's all (since she can't get a decent job, she says) take a moment to pout on her behalf and send her copies of White Fragility or the book of your choice.
I'll be adding and/or changing the quotes as I proceed through the book. This is my space. Comments sympathetic to or defending Grisham, the Trumps, any of the treasonous, seditious, lying, cheating, greedy, thieving, deluded (see Giuliani, Rudy) crowd of criminals as well as any defending what was done on January 6th, promoting The Big Lie, etc. will be deleted. To quote a Talking Heads song that is appropriate, "I ain't got time for that now."
If you want to avoid paying for or waiting for this book, or would never read it but want to be a looky-loo at what she's not saying on teevee to sell her book, watch this space for pearls from Grisham -- hypothetically yanked by me from around her neck while she's clutching them -- possible snark and who knows what lies ahead, maybe some "fillet of a fenny snake." 🧹
October 10, 2021
Juvenile Drivel
Claiming to be on the precipice of telling ‘us’ what none of us knew because we weren’t there, she then goes on to tell us nothing we hadn’t watched on TV for four years. One of her blockbuster secrets (…because ‘she knew everyone wanted to know”) is how Melania smelled. While writing a tell-all full of facts we already knew (though the way Melania smells is a shocker!), she says again and again she hates ‘leakers’, people who ‘speak truth to power’ and hates having to betray the Trumps (who she insists she feels true affection for and beats us over the head with the idea they ‘genuinely’ liked her).
She promises to tell some kind of truth even while kissing the Trump’s asses ad infinitum. She wants to come off as a brave truth teller while trying to keep Mommy and Daddy from being mad at her.
Embarrassingly sophomoric, truly cringe-worthy writing, this comes off as the Tiger Beat of behind the scenes tomes. Save yourself the money and just watch old news clips. The only thing you’ll miss is the very creepy truth of Melanie’s special scent.
Claiming to be on the precipice of telling ‘us’ what none of us knew because we weren’t there, she then goes on to tell us nothing we hadn’t watched on TV for four years. One of her blockbuster secrets (…because ‘she knew everyone wanted to know”) is how Melania smelled. While writing a tell-all full of facts we already knew (though the way Melania smells is a shocker!), she says again and again she hates ‘leakers’, people who ‘speak truth to power’ and hates having to betray the Trumps (who she insists she feels true affection for and beats us over the head with the idea they ‘genuinely’ liked her).
She promises to tell some kind of truth even while kissing the Trump’s asses ad infinitum. She wants to come off as a brave truth teller while trying to keep Mommy and Daddy from being mad at her.
Embarrassingly sophomoric, truly cringe-worthy writing, this comes off as the Tiger Beat of behind the scenes tomes. Save yourself the money and just watch old news clips. The only thing you’ll miss is the very creepy truth of Melanie’s special scent.
October 30, 2021
WARNING: You are entering a "no-politics" zone.
No political views from me, no political views from you.
I am a sucker for "tell-all" books and that is how/why Stephanie Grisham's book landed on my phone.
This is the second "Stephanie tell-all" book I have read about the Trump administration and both Stephanies had plenty to say.
After listening to this book in its entirety, I experienced a sudden surge of gratitude.
I was very, very, very grateful that nobody ever wrote a "tell-all" book about me.
WHY? Because both my family and my trusted work colleagues would have plenty to say.
Unfortunately, this book featured no "big reveals" or shortage of nasty commentary.
* Grisham despised "Javanka" (Ivanka and Jared) and Mark Meadows.
* Grisham claimed that Trump cuts his own hair with a huge pair of scissors that could be used for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
* Grisham also claimed that Trump did not have a tanning bed in the White House and takes 30 minutes to apply his own cosmetics.
Also revealed:
* Melania sleeps a lot and Trump never sleeps.
* Princess Kate looks even thinner in person.
Grisham left many questions unanswered; specifically, questions about herself.
1) How did Grisham manage to climb the political ladder and be appointed White House Press Secretary/Chief of Staff to the First Lady?
Grisham did not have a college education (she attended Colorado Mesa University for one year), plus she had been fired from two different jobs for cheating on expense reports and plagiarism. (This was not revealed in the book)
In addition, she had two DUIs on her record plus another DUI that did not officially appear on her record (this was revealed in the book).
2) How was Grisham able to successfully manage the HUGE responsibilities of single parenthood outside of her 24/7 job? (If Grisham was a single dad, I would have posed the same question).
Grisham is the mother of two sons with two different husbands.
Yet, in the book, even though she freely admits that she has "relationship problems", the fact that she was a single mom was only mentioned once at the beginning of the book.
Readers were repeatedly told about Grisham's very, very demanding schedule but never once did the author share challenges about combining work with motherhood.
Grisham spoke about a disastrous failed relationship with a White House aide who refused to share dog custody with her, but nothing about her sons.
Overall, in spite of some glaring omissions, I felt that the book flowed well and was a fast and "entertaining" read.
This "Stephanie tell-all" was much less vitriolic than Stephanie Winston Wolkoff's book and that is most likely because the first Stephanie was fired and this Stephanie quit.
I listened to the audiobook that was read by the author. I always love it when authors read their own memoirs and Stephanie Grisham did a superb job with the narration.
3 stars rounded up.
No political views from me, no political views from you.
I am a sucker for "tell-all" books and that is how/why Stephanie Grisham's book landed on my phone.
This is the second "Stephanie tell-all" book I have read about the Trump administration and both Stephanies had plenty to say.
After listening to this book in its entirety, I experienced a sudden surge of gratitude.
I was very, very, very grateful that nobody ever wrote a "tell-all" book about me.
WHY? Because both my family and my trusted work colleagues would have plenty to say.
Unfortunately, this book featured no "big reveals" or shortage of nasty commentary.
* Grisham despised "Javanka" (Ivanka and Jared) and Mark Meadows.
* Grisham claimed that Trump cuts his own hair with a huge pair of scissors that could be used for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
* Grisham also claimed that Trump did not have a tanning bed in the White House and takes 30 minutes to apply his own cosmetics.
Also revealed:
* Melania sleeps a lot and Trump never sleeps.
* Princess Kate looks even thinner in person.
Grisham left many questions unanswered; specifically, questions about herself.
1) How did Grisham manage to climb the political ladder and be appointed White House Press Secretary/Chief of Staff to the First Lady?
Grisham did not have a college education (she attended Colorado Mesa University for one year), plus she had been fired from two different jobs for cheating on expense reports and plagiarism. (This was not revealed in the book)
In addition, she had two DUIs on her record plus another DUI that did not officially appear on her record (this was revealed in the book).
2) How was Grisham able to successfully manage the HUGE responsibilities of single parenthood outside of her 24/7 job? (If Grisham was a single dad, I would have posed the same question).
Grisham is the mother of two sons with two different husbands.
Yet, in the book, even though she freely admits that she has "relationship problems", the fact that she was a single mom was only mentioned once at the beginning of the book.
Readers were repeatedly told about Grisham's very, very demanding schedule but never once did the author share challenges about combining work with motherhood.
Grisham spoke about a disastrous failed relationship with a White House aide who refused to share dog custody with her, but nothing about her sons.
Overall, in spite of some glaring omissions, I felt that the book flowed well and was a fast and "entertaining" read.
This "Stephanie tell-all" was much less vitriolic than Stephanie Winston Wolkoff's book and that is most likely because the first Stephanie was fired and this Stephanie quit.
I listened to the audiobook that was read by the author. I always love it when authors read their own memoirs and Stephanie Grisham did a superb job with the narration.
3 stars rounded up.
October 10, 2021
Meh. This is another self-serving book by someone who has to live with the whole of society and is trying to rebrand herself. The book does little to do that, rather quite the opposite; it affirms that the author was part of the Trump administration and the machinations at that time. It does offer a different angle on those dreadful years, itemizing the slights and documenting the in-fighting within the Trump family.
This is novice work comes off like a (loose) running stream of consciousness of a 20 year old, not a political pro in communications. In spite of this, I think she effectively shined a light on the complicity of the media in that circus and I appreciate that she’s mentioned that thread throughout the book. There were small vignettes that stunned and sickened, the author described a terribly humiliating dinner Mitt Romney suffered at the hands of Mr. Trump – a very painful mafia-esque event.
But, for the most part, it was a whine-fest from someone who felt she was quite a victim.
Accepting any responsibility rings hollow here. Her intentions seem clear to me that she’s joined the roster of awful human beings that want to make a nickel off of the Trump administration.
Hardly a high level read (many sentences were interjected with such sophomoric declarations of the obvious (“get ready for a surprise” “spoiler alert” “surprise, surprise”) and this undermines the author’s authenticity.
Unclear why her dysfunctional, failed relationship plays into the book, as well. I think this was a multi-chapter drivel of all who have wronged her and the author cheapened herself with dirty little tidbits. A more befitting title might have been “Karma”.
This is novice work comes off like a (loose) running stream of consciousness of a 20 year old, not a political pro in communications. In spite of this, I think she effectively shined a light on the complicity of the media in that circus and I appreciate that she’s mentioned that thread throughout the book. There were small vignettes that stunned and sickened, the author described a terribly humiliating dinner Mitt Romney suffered at the hands of Mr. Trump – a very painful mafia-esque event.
But, for the most part, it was a whine-fest from someone who felt she was quite a victim.
Accepting any responsibility rings hollow here. Her intentions seem clear to me that she’s joined the roster of awful human beings that want to make a nickel off of the Trump administration.
Hardly a high level read (many sentences were interjected with such sophomoric declarations of the obvious (“get ready for a surprise” “spoiler alert” “surprise, surprise”) and this undermines the author’s authenticity.
Unclear why her dysfunctional, failed relationship plays into the book, as well. I think this was a multi-chapter drivel of all who have wronged her and the author cheapened herself with dirty little tidbits. A more befitting title might have been “Karma”.
October 9, 2021
It might sound very small to say that I can enjoy almost any book that describes the faults and shortcomings of Donald Trump. There are plenty more of those type of revelations exposed in this book, as in so many books before and I expect in books to come. To be clear about my opinion of the man, I think him to be an amoral, egocentric, power hungry bully. And I can only hope that he has been an anomaly in our political culture.
As for the book itself, in the author’s attempt to tell a personal story that has impacted our entire country and a good part of the world, I’m afraid she reveals how personal the political realm has become. In spite of the attempt at a Mia culpa, the book comes across as gossipy fluff, albeit believable.
There are individual events and circumstances of which I was not aware previous to investing the time to read this book. I empathize with those who got caught up in the maelstrom of this administration but I cannot absolve them of their naïveté in some cases and their opportunism in other cases.
Am I glad I read it? Yes, but only because it confirms some of my most strongly felt beliefs about the Trump family and presidency. I find it near impossible to be able to “forgive” Trump supporters for what they have allowed to happen to our country, either by their complicity or their silence. I fear we are not free of this blemish on our society and won’t be for a long time to come. My hope is that after looking back on the chaos and insanity of these recent times that enough citizens have learned the importance of their serious consideration for the leader of our country that we don’t repeat this flirtation with autocracy.
In summary, for the casual follower of politics, it is a relatively simple read the gives one person’s inside view of a regrettable chapter in American history.
As for the book itself, in the author’s attempt to tell a personal story that has impacted our entire country and a good part of the world, I’m afraid she reveals how personal the political realm has become. In spite of the attempt at a Mia culpa, the book comes across as gossipy fluff, albeit believable.
There are individual events and circumstances of which I was not aware previous to investing the time to read this book. I empathize with those who got caught up in the maelstrom of this administration but I cannot absolve them of their naïveté in some cases and their opportunism in other cases.
Am I glad I read it? Yes, but only because it confirms some of my most strongly felt beliefs about the Trump family and presidency. I find it near impossible to be able to “forgive” Trump supporters for what they have allowed to happen to our country, either by their complicity or their silence. I fear we are not free of this blemish on our society and won’t be for a long time to come. My hope is that after looking back on the chaos and insanity of these recent times that enough citizens have learned the importance of their serious consideration for the leader of our country that we don’t repeat this flirtation with autocracy.
In summary, for the casual follower of politics, it is a relatively simple read the gives one person’s inside view of a regrettable chapter in American history.
October 10, 2021
How do you square your conscience when you openly realize that the people you have worked for, have no real redeeming value and have damaged the country?
The author chronicles much of the same material about the former president’s temper tantrums and basic inability to understand how government works. The First Lady contributed next to nothing, redesigning a tennis pavilion that few presidents have time to use, and a rose garden that the public loved. Her comment that the flowering crabs had to be removed “because they were killing everything”, is bogus. The only thing trees do is create shade, and there are plenty of plants that will flourish under them. Flotus emerges as just as big a narcissist as her husband, spending tons of money on photo albums of herself, and even restaging events to get more pictures. What a shame that she didn’t realize the good she could have done, and instead focused on her clothes and posing.
It’s pretty clear that being close to power is an aphrodisiac for some like the author. That it came with a healthy dose of abuse and lots and lots of back stabbing, didn’t seem to matter. I wonder if selling her soul to these odious people was worth it?
The author chronicles much of the same material about the former president’s temper tantrums and basic inability to understand how government works. The First Lady contributed next to nothing, redesigning a tennis pavilion that few presidents have time to use, and a rose garden that the public loved. Her comment that the flowering crabs had to be removed “because they were killing everything”, is bogus. The only thing trees do is create shade, and there are plenty of plants that will flourish under them. Flotus emerges as just as big a narcissist as her husband, spending tons of money on photo albums of herself, and even restaging events to get more pictures. What a shame that she didn’t realize the good she could have done, and instead focused on her clothes and posing.
It’s pretty clear that being close to power is an aphrodisiac for some like the author. That it came with a healthy dose of abuse and lots and lots of back stabbing, didn’t seem to matter. I wonder if selling her soul to these odious people was worth it?
June 28, 2022
While I have read a number of books about life in the Trump Administration, from both reporters and historians, it is nice to get an insider’s point of view to balance the storytelling. Stephanie Grisham’s various roles with both the President and First Lady allow her to offer some first-hand accounts of events, adding validity to the narrative. While some call it a cash grab, Grisham effectively shows that pulling back the curtain to offer the truth is the best way to go about dispelling myths. A tell-all of sorts that offers justifications on both sides of the fence, which is likely to impress and anger people in equal measure.
Grisham explores her long-time work with the Trump Team, dating back to an awkward meeting in a women’s washroom with The Donald during an early 2016 presidential primary. That oddity set the tone for the next number of years, in which Grisham would be one of the closest members of the group, seeing a great deal more than many others. She speaks frankly about the aura around Trump, while injecting her sentiment that it would be a long shot for him to win the ultimate goal, control of the White House. However, as many readers will know, America entered some sort of vortex and reality took a break for four years.
Grisham took on an interior role within the White House as soon as the inauguration ended, working with the Communications Team before being poached by the First Lady. Grisham recounts many intriguing stories about Melania Trump and working so closely to her. Pulling on a number of the stories that popped up in the headlines, Grisham seeks to dispel some of the media spin about the First Lady and her perceived rough exterior, turning it into an exploration of how the third Mrs. Trump was misunderstood and sought to keep things in some form of higher level of decorum.
Another key theme throughout the book was the dislike Grisham had for the First Children, citing their spoiled nature and constant need for the spotlight. While all of the elder Trump children vied for publicity, it would appear that Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, went above and beyond to turn the White House and Trump presidency into their own game, in which they would be in control of massive power simply by dropping POTUS’s name. Ivanka’s moniker of Princess was shared by many and it appears to ring true, at least based on the stories that emerge throughout this piece.
There was a strong sense of sycophancy throughout the book, justifying the actions of Trump and Melania on many occasions, though the barbed comments help offset the irritating justifications. Readers must surely understand that working with a man whose ego is as delicate as a piece of china. Pushing too hard could, and likely would, lead to a dismissal by Twitter pronouncement. Grisham explains that this was quite common and the lack of decency around it was not lost on many within the West Wing.
While I do not need a tell-all book to sway me into believing that Donald Trump ran a tight and chaotic ship, it is interesting to get yet another insider’s look into how things played out to justify some of the sentiments I have felt for a long while. Grisham pulls no punches, though shields the First Family throughout the piece as well, perhaps not feeling the need to air dirty laundry or risk libel. Still, it was eye opening to see some of the backstories surrounding media events and insider news that may not have made it into the press on a daily basis. With her well-developed chapters and ease with which she can transmit it, Grisham does a formidable job at conveying the truth as she knows it. Readers will likely be impressed to see behind the curtain, even if there is a haze of aggrandisement at times as well.
Kudos, Madam Grisham, for a balanced look at life in the Trump White House and the circus that became America’s Olympus of political power.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
Grisham explores her long-time work with the Trump Team, dating back to an awkward meeting in a women’s washroom with The Donald during an early 2016 presidential primary. That oddity set the tone for the next number of years, in which Grisham would be one of the closest members of the group, seeing a great deal more than many others. She speaks frankly about the aura around Trump, while injecting her sentiment that it would be a long shot for him to win the ultimate goal, control of the White House. However, as many readers will know, America entered some sort of vortex and reality took a break for four years.
Grisham took on an interior role within the White House as soon as the inauguration ended, working with the Communications Team before being poached by the First Lady. Grisham recounts many intriguing stories about Melania Trump and working so closely to her. Pulling on a number of the stories that popped up in the headlines, Grisham seeks to dispel some of the media spin about the First Lady and her perceived rough exterior, turning it into an exploration of how the third Mrs. Trump was misunderstood and sought to keep things in some form of higher level of decorum.
Another key theme throughout the book was the dislike Grisham had for the First Children, citing their spoiled nature and constant need for the spotlight. While all of the elder Trump children vied for publicity, it would appear that Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, went above and beyond to turn the White House and Trump presidency into their own game, in which they would be in control of massive power simply by dropping POTUS’s name. Ivanka’s moniker of Princess was shared by many and it appears to ring true, at least based on the stories that emerge throughout this piece.
There was a strong sense of sycophancy throughout the book, justifying the actions of Trump and Melania on many occasions, though the barbed comments help offset the irritating justifications. Readers must surely understand that working with a man whose ego is as delicate as a piece of china. Pushing too hard could, and likely would, lead to a dismissal by Twitter pronouncement. Grisham explains that this was quite common and the lack of decency around it was not lost on many within the West Wing.
While I do not need a tell-all book to sway me into believing that Donald Trump ran a tight and chaotic ship, it is interesting to get yet another insider’s look into how things played out to justify some of the sentiments I have felt for a long while. Grisham pulls no punches, though shields the First Family throughout the piece as well, perhaps not feeling the need to air dirty laundry or risk libel. Still, it was eye opening to see some of the backstories surrounding media events and insider news that may not have made it into the press on a daily basis. With her well-developed chapters and ease with which she can transmit it, Grisham does a formidable job at conveying the truth as she knows it. Readers will likely be impressed to see behind the curtain, even if there is a haze of aggrandisement at times as well.
Kudos, Madam Grisham, for a balanced look at life in the Trump White House and the circus that became America’s Olympus of political power.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
October 7, 2021
Two and a half stars. I don’t know why I bothered. If you’re looking for Trump scandals there isn’t much more than what was reported in the press. It’s the usual story arc of Trump Whitehouse workers. People who thought they could help navigate the craziness of Trump world but then end up getting chewed up and spat out and feel bitter about it. Grisham owns up to the sense of power and ego from being in the Whitehouse but she’s not an especially reflective person and this limits her insights. A lot more detail of the January 6th mob attack would have been apropriate.
This is - I think - my 73rd Trump book and the stories of Trumps arrogance and lack of concern for ordinary human niceties never ceases to amaze. For example his asking Grisham’s boyfriend if she was “good in bed”. Trumps total lack of a filter, the gross sexism and superhuman selfishness, it’s grimly humorous at times, he’s like a giant self obsessed, sex-obsessed lizard brained overgrown 14 year old boy. The way his subordinates and staff treat him like a child is really amazing.
This is - I think - my 73rd Trump book and the stories of Trumps arrogance and lack of concern for ordinary human niceties never ceases to amaze. For example his asking Grisham’s boyfriend if she was “good in bed”. Trumps total lack of a filter, the gross sexism and superhuman selfishness, it’s grimly humorous at times, he’s like a giant self obsessed, sex-obsessed lizard brained overgrown 14 year old boy. The way his subordinates and staff treat him like a child is really amazing.
November 12, 2021
Might wanna grab a big bowl of popcorn for this one. Grisham worked for the Trumps for several years, serving in various capacities including Mrs. Trump’s Chief of Staff, and eventually her dream job, White House Press Secretary. She’s an insider with a bitter taste. I felt like this was pretty honest and fair. Maybe someone with different political leanings would disagree. I enjoyed her FLOTUS stories the most. An insightful read, indeed.
October 12, 2021
Mostly a white wash. Don’t waste your money, I wish I hadn’t wasted mine.
October 6, 2021
For years, I tried to avoid reading books about former President Trump. Nevertheless, in 2021, with Trump out of office, I started reading books about his presidency. This book, I'll take your questions now by Stephanie Grisham, is the fourth book on Trump I have read. Unlike other books, Grisham takes you inside the world of Trump and tries to provide a greater understanding of the Trump family and how family dynamics impacted foreign and domestic policy. While Grisham, like many others who have worked for the Trump family, is trying to remove the mud from her good name, she does provide a sense of the promise of a Trump presidency for the voiceless in America before it descended into violence and chaos. While the book does not provide the same level of detail as other Trump books, it does provide an idea of the impact that the Trumps had on those working for them. I would recommend this book simply because it was written by a former Trump staffer.
October 20, 2021
Wow - how can an author write an entire book as an apologia for her own self-serving work experience? If Grisham had said one more time that she should have known better, we would all yell in unison "Then why didn't you?" This is a gossip book pure and simple. Perhaps it is an attempt for Grisham to show that she indeed deserves another "good" job in DC. Her personal boyfriend problems, etc. had nothing to do with the topic except to give another reason why "things really happened the way they did." Very little info on the political triumphs and failures of the Trumps. And yes - she really did love Melania! Until she didn't.
October 14, 2021
I listened to the audiobook version of this book, mostly while running. The author narrates it herself, and does an excellent job narrating.
As for the content of the book – the author seems to hold herself on a pedestal – morally superior in some way compared to her work colleagues. And yet… she stuck with the president and first lady through the worst of times (scandal after scandal after scandal after scandal), defending atrocious behavior, up until the point where “jumping ship” became a much easier choice.
Parts of this book are entertaining – Stephanie Grisham constantly refers to Jared and Ivanka as Jivanka, and really, really seems to hate them. She also implies that Melania is only fond of one Trump child (her own). Inane asides are thrown in, as when Trump asked whether her teeth were real. While we’re supposed to think “shouldn’t Trump have more pressing matters on his mind when flying on Air Force One?”, when you’re spending a lot of time with your work colleagues, random questions come up. (Was it appropriate to ask? No. But understandable given their close working relationship? Yes.)
A lot of the book was given over to how often Melania did very charitable or generous acts, only to then be criticized for her outfit choice, and how the press would always complain about what she was wearing was “too expensive” or “racist” – I believe as a jab at the “left wing media”. This is after Stephanie Grisham points out what excellent taste in fashion Melania has, and how her stylist/designer/(I don’t know his title) taught Stephanie how to dress better, so it is then shocking how the author then goes on to point out the many, many occasions Melania got fashion very, very wrong. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to question whether a pith helmet is appropriate for a photo shoot. Maybe Melania herself wouldn’t think about the context, but certainly someone on her team knows how to google and would have googled “pith helmet racism”. Were they all that naïve? Stephanie Grisham takes responsibility for not knowing what was written on the back of the jacket that read “I really don’t care, do you?” until after it was worn and photographed, and defends Melania for not knowing what a press frenzy wearing something like that would raise. We get several different explanations for why the jacket was worn, I have no idea which was correct, but I truly believe Melania is much smarter than Stephanie Grisham gives her credit for when discussing the jacket and knew exactly what she was doing. Stephanie Grisham compares Melania Trump wearing a $50,000 coat to Michelle Obama wearing $700 shoes. That’s not the same. One of those things I can afford with money in my bank account, the other, I can’t. (I’d never spend $700 on a pair of shoes myself, but my running shoe budget every year probably comes close.) Criticizing Melania for wearing a pith helmet or a jacket that reads “I really don’t care, do you?” when going to visit immigrant children at the border is not the same as Obama wearing a tan suit once in his presidency. These things are not comparable. There is a reason Melania was criticized for her fashion choices. It’s not because the press was looking for something negative to criticize. I would have loved one day in the last presidency where I didn’t want to pull my hair out because of something that the president or first lady did or said.
Stephanie Grisham tries to walk a tightrope of trying to be scandalous and funny, but also protect the first lady, and to some extent, the president. She lauds the first lady, which I don’t have a problem with, Melania wasn’t the president and didn’t ask for any of this – certainly her team could have stopped her from making some very bad fashion choices. I don’t know why she chose to include a story of how Melania forced the Easter Bunny to take off a plaid vest before appearing at the Egg Roll. Is this supposed to show that Melania is decisive? Hates plaid? Has good fashion sense? She also makes fun of Melania’s language barrier by constantly reminding us that Melania confuses reply and replay, but then criticizes democrats for making fun of her accent on TV. Last time I checked, the people doing Melania impersonations are comedians, and not politicians. Stephanie Grisham says the republicans would get crucified for trying to do the same thing (make fun of accents), but there are plenty of comedians from the broad political spectrum that do impersonations of well known public figures (including impersonations of Arnold Schwarzeneggar, former governor of Califonia, who also has a thick European accent). Can some impersonations, especially when done as a stereotype of someone not of your own race, be racist? Is that what was being done with Melania? I don’t think so.
Finally, I gave this book 2 stars because I don’t know how much of this book to believe as true and how much is internal White House politics and sour grapes. Stephanie Grisham justified staying with the president for the entire 4 years (minus 14 days), because people who left and criticized the president didn’t enact change. I don’t know about anyone else, but I know I certainly could not work for someone I didn’t respect and felt I needed to protect other people from for that long.
Who is this book for? It’s definitely going to annoy anyone who supports Trump, because while I think she mentions how much she respects and admires him, it is not entirely kind. I don’t know if people who hate Trump will like this book – because, it often holds him, Melania, and the author herself on a pedestal. Is it for Republicans who are anti-Trump. That seems like a very small number of people. I’m very luck that a.) I have several hours a week to listen to audiobooks while running, and listening at 2X means I got through this book in 2 runs and b.) I get audiobooks for free from the library with Overdrive, so I don’t feel like I wasted my time or money on this book, but if I spent hours reading a physical copy I bought with my money, I’d feel differently. Would I recommend this? It wasn’t nearly as entertaining as the Michael Wolff books, and didn’t feel nearly as truthful as the first two Bob Woodward books about the Trump presidency (the third book is next on my list).
As for the content of the book – the author seems to hold herself on a pedestal – morally superior in some way compared to her work colleagues. And yet… she stuck with the president and first lady through the worst of times (scandal after scandal after scandal after scandal), defending atrocious behavior, up until the point where “jumping ship” became a much easier choice.
Parts of this book are entertaining – Stephanie Grisham constantly refers to Jared and Ivanka as Jivanka, and really, really seems to hate them. She also implies that Melania is only fond of one Trump child (her own). Inane asides are thrown in, as when Trump asked whether her teeth were real. While we’re supposed to think “shouldn’t Trump have more pressing matters on his mind when flying on Air Force One?”, when you’re spending a lot of time with your work colleagues, random questions come up. (Was it appropriate to ask? No. But understandable given their close working relationship? Yes.)
A lot of the book was given over to how often Melania did very charitable or generous acts, only to then be criticized for her outfit choice, and how the press would always complain about what she was wearing was “too expensive” or “racist” – I believe as a jab at the “left wing media”. This is after Stephanie Grisham points out what excellent taste in fashion Melania has, and how her stylist/designer/(I don’t know his title) taught Stephanie how to dress better, so it is then shocking how the author then goes on to point out the many, many occasions Melania got fashion very, very wrong. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to question whether a pith helmet is appropriate for a photo shoot. Maybe Melania herself wouldn’t think about the context, but certainly someone on her team knows how to google and would have googled “pith helmet racism”. Were they all that naïve? Stephanie Grisham takes responsibility for not knowing what was written on the back of the jacket that read “I really don’t care, do you?” until after it was worn and photographed, and defends Melania for not knowing what a press frenzy wearing something like that would raise. We get several different explanations for why the jacket was worn, I have no idea which was correct, but I truly believe Melania is much smarter than Stephanie Grisham gives her credit for when discussing the jacket and knew exactly what she was doing. Stephanie Grisham compares Melania Trump wearing a $50,000 coat to Michelle Obama wearing $700 shoes. That’s not the same. One of those things I can afford with money in my bank account, the other, I can’t. (I’d never spend $700 on a pair of shoes myself, but my running shoe budget every year probably comes close.) Criticizing Melania for wearing a pith helmet or a jacket that reads “I really don’t care, do you?” when going to visit immigrant children at the border is not the same as Obama wearing a tan suit once in his presidency. These things are not comparable. There is a reason Melania was criticized for her fashion choices. It’s not because the press was looking for something negative to criticize. I would have loved one day in the last presidency where I didn’t want to pull my hair out because of something that the president or first lady did or said.
Stephanie Grisham tries to walk a tightrope of trying to be scandalous and funny, but also protect the first lady, and to some extent, the president. She lauds the first lady, which I don’t have a problem with, Melania wasn’t the president and didn’t ask for any of this – certainly her team could have stopped her from making some very bad fashion choices. I don’t know why she chose to include a story of how Melania forced the Easter Bunny to take off a plaid vest before appearing at the Egg Roll. Is this supposed to show that Melania is decisive? Hates plaid? Has good fashion sense? She also makes fun of Melania’s language barrier by constantly reminding us that Melania confuses reply and replay, but then criticizes democrats for making fun of her accent on TV. Last time I checked, the people doing Melania impersonations are comedians, and not politicians. Stephanie Grisham says the republicans would get crucified for trying to do the same thing (make fun of accents), but there are plenty of comedians from the broad political spectrum that do impersonations of well known public figures (including impersonations of Arnold Schwarzeneggar, former governor of Califonia, who also has a thick European accent). Can some impersonations, especially when done as a stereotype of someone not of your own race, be racist? Is that what was being done with Melania? I don’t think so.
Finally, I gave this book 2 stars because I don’t know how much of this book to believe as true and how much is internal White House politics and sour grapes. Stephanie Grisham justified staying with the president for the entire 4 years (minus 14 days), because people who left and criticized the president didn’t enact change. I don’t know about anyone else, but I know I certainly could not work for someone I didn’t respect and felt I needed to protect other people from for that long.
Who is this book for? It’s definitely going to annoy anyone who supports Trump, because while I think she mentions how much she respects and admires him, it is not entirely kind. I don’t know if people who hate Trump will like this book – because, it often holds him, Melania, and the author herself on a pedestal. Is it for Republicans who are anti-Trump. That seems like a very small number of people. I’m very luck that a.) I have several hours a week to listen to audiobooks while running, and listening at 2X means I got through this book in 2 runs and b.) I get audiobooks for free from the library with Overdrive, so I don’t feel like I wasted my time or money on this book, but if I spent hours reading a physical copy I bought with my money, I’d feel differently. Would I recommend this? It wasn’t nearly as entertaining as the Michael Wolff books, and didn’t feel nearly as truthful as the first two Bob Woodward books about the Trump presidency (the third book is next on my list).
February 7, 2022
What would you do if you had regular access to one of the most powerful people on Earth? Would you repeatedly ask that person if UFOs are real? Because that's what Stephanie Grisham did when she worked for Donald Trump. Not as a joke, apparently. Sat next to him on Air Force One and wheedled him about it.
This is an entertaining memoir about a middle-class striver with an undistinguished job history and few connections who became the White House's press secretary, a job that the internet tells me pays $184K per year. She is probably most famous for being the only WH press secretary never to hold a press conference. She says Trump banned them six months before she even got that job, and she never wanted to do one anyway because she was afraid she would have to tell lies and be ridiculed like Sean Spicer. To me, holding press conferences seems like the most important part of a press secretary's job, but Grisham insists that there's a lot more to it and that talking to reporters one-on-one is more important anyway.
The book has lots of gossip about the foolish and self-destructive behavior of rich people, which I loved because I am a petty b¡tch. I laughed aloud when Grisham told the story of how Trump insisted that she tell a major donor in Arizona not to wear sleeveless clothing anymore because that wasn't a good look on her. He said he wanted to tell her himself, but he couldn't because of MeToo. Grisham never said a word about it to the donor. And there's lots more about Grisham's enemies, political and personal. No battle over camera angles or place cards is too minor to include.
I was surprised that Grisham is a poor communicator in her own memoir. For example, she said that she loves Malawi so much that she wants to live there. But she doesn't provide any details except to say that the people are really nice and they do a lot with very little—statements that I think could apply to at least 80 countries. And she tried to convince the reader that having two DUIs (which she does) is not a big deal and could happen to anyone. Hmmm.
My favorite part of the book was Chapter 8, which is called "That Damn Jacket." Grisham characterized as "stupid" the First Lady's decision to wear a jacket that said "I Really Don't Care, Do U?" while on a humanitarian mission. I get the impression that Grisham wanted to say, "Do I have to watch you every second of every day? Can you just get on an airplane without causing an international scandal?"
I felt most sympathetic to Grisham when she described an abusive relationship she was in during her White House years. She felt worthless and terrified, and nobody deserves that. So I hope she saved some of the White House money and some of the memoir money and can use it to create a better life for herself and her two sons and her dog.
This is an entertaining memoir about a middle-class striver with an undistinguished job history and few connections who became the White House's press secretary, a job that the internet tells me pays $184K per year. She is probably most famous for being the only WH press secretary never to hold a press conference. She says Trump banned them six months before she even got that job, and she never wanted to do one anyway because she was afraid she would have to tell lies and be ridiculed like Sean Spicer. To me, holding press conferences seems like the most important part of a press secretary's job, but Grisham insists that there's a lot more to it and that talking to reporters one-on-one is more important anyway.
The book has lots of gossip about the foolish and self-destructive behavior of rich people, which I loved because I am a petty b¡tch. I laughed aloud when Grisham told the story of how Trump insisted that she tell a major donor in Arizona not to wear sleeveless clothing anymore because that wasn't a good look on her. He said he wanted to tell her himself, but he couldn't because of MeToo. Grisham never said a word about it to the donor. And there's lots more about Grisham's enemies, political and personal. No battle over camera angles or place cards is too minor to include.
I was surprised that Grisham is a poor communicator in her own memoir. For example, she said that she loves Malawi so much that she wants to live there. But she doesn't provide any details except to say that the people are really nice and they do a lot with very little—statements that I think could apply to at least 80 countries. And she tried to convince the reader that having two DUIs (which she does) is not a big deal and could happen to anyone. Hmmm.
My favorite part of the book was Chapter 8, which is called "That Damn Jacket." Grisham characterized as "stupid" the First Lady's decision to wear a jacket that said "I Really Don't Care, Do U?" while on a humanitarian mission. I get the impression that Grisham wanted to say, "Do I have to watch you every second of every day? Can you just get on an airplane without causing an international scandal?"
I felt most sympathetic to Grisham when she described an abusive relationship she was in during her White House years. She felt worthless and terrified, and nobody deserves that. So I hope she saved some of the White House money and some of the memoir money and can use it to create a better life for herself and her two sons and her dog.
October 16, 2021
Engaging Storytelling in this Audiobook
Stephanie Grisham is a seasoned storyteller who knows how to capture the attention of readers. From the opening pages of this audiobook of I’LL TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS NOW. I was fascinated with her truth-telling and insider perspective on the Donald Trump White House and organization.
As a journalist, I found her behind the scenes stories very interesting and insightful. As one of the longest White House people in the East Wing (four years in the White House and two years before that), Grisham knows how to survive the turmoil of the Trump organization. In addition, Grisham was a fierce advocate for Melania Trump, where she worked with the White House press. I enjoyed listening to I’LL TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS NOW and heard it cover to cover.
W. Terry Whalin is an editor and the author of more than 60 books including his latest Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success (Revised Edition) .
Stephanie Grisham is a seasoned storyteller who knows how to capture the attention of readers. From the opening pages of this audiobook of I’LL TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS NOW. I was fascinated with her truth-telling and insider perspective on the Donald Trump White House and organization.
As a journalist, I found her behind the scenes stories very interesting and insightful. As one of the longest White House people in the East Wing (four years in the White House and two years before that), Grisham knows how to survive the turmoil of the Trump organization. In addition, Grisham was a fierce advocate for Melania Trump, where she worked with the White House press. I enjoyed listening to I’LL TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS NOW and heard it cover to cover.
W. Terry Whalin is an editor and the author of more than 60 books including his latest Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success (Revised Edition) .
October 11, 2021
I get the feeling a lot of this book is filled with her favorite word in this book- shit. She spent a lot of time justifying events in her life which I don’t know if it’s the truth or not. I also got a feeling she left a lot out that might have been embarrassing to Melania. I definitely don’t buy her explanation of the “I don’t really care, do you?” jacket incident. And in the end, all that she saw and heard she still kinda sorta wanted Trump to be re-elected? Interesting anecdotes but not really believable.
October 25, 2021
So cringe. Not because of what she saw, (halfway through the book she’d shared nothing surprising or juicy besides what she teases in the intro), but because of how unable she is to explain what she saw. Over and over she brings up an event everyone knows happened and then says “I don’t know what was going through their mind” or “I don’t know what happened behind those doors,” or something to that effect. She manages in the first half to make the case that she wasn’t inept at her job, but that the Trumps never listened to their staff or did anything besides what they wanted. But we already knew that. She was one of the few staffers to make it all the way through without getting fired, but seems like that’s just because she didn’t do much or have any influence or power.
October 10, 2021
This was the only book that I read about the former guy that really portrayed what many believed was going on. I enjoyed her casual style and brute honesty. The writing sometimes flowed like a good novel in which she was an important character. The depth of her portrayal showed the dysfunction on all levels. I especially learned what was suspected about Melania, that she was complicit and self -absorbed. All in all it was an informative book.
October 24, 2021
Interesting read.
If you followed the news you have heard basically everything contained in this book just the Author's experiences and perspective of it all.
If you followed the news you have heard basically everything contained in this book just the Author's experiences and perspective of it all.
July 25, 2023
I am admittedly a Trump White House junkie.. I’ve read Woodward’s Fear, Bolton’s book, Comey’s book, Mary Trump’s book, Michael Cohen’s book and now this one. There is a consensus among all that Trump ran the White House like he’s a mob boss, demanding loyalty in all ways .. if they didn’t comply,they were escorted out via Tweet. Those who drank his Kool Aid KNEW he was a narcissistic sociopath but couldn’t help themselves from doing his bidding. Those who didn’t drink his Kool Aid thought they were bringing alternative perspective and needed normalcy which they learned they couldn’t make happen and left. They all say the same thing. This book is slightly different in that it brings in Melanie’s side of the story. Clearly, she has Stockholm syndrome like everyone else. As for Ms. Grisham…It is clear her job was extremely stressful and difficult but it was also clear that she stayed because she simply wanted to remain in the White House and mentioned many times that it was her dream job. I know it’s not fair to judge if you haven’t experienced the pressure, but she had a choice. She could leave. Grisham attempts to justify her actions and explain why, in spite of knowing that the Kool Aid was spiked, she drank it anyway…it was, after all, her dream job. Oh and her boyfriend, the dog thief who was also Trump’s music man. The guy responsible for creating the playlist for Trump’s rallies. OK. Well…love is love. What I don’t like is that these books are the author’s attempt to justify their actions. Also, for a communications director…she’s not a very good communicator.
October 16, 2021
Nothing new here except blind ignorance…
January 23, 2022
This book isn't bad, but I wanted it to be better than it was. Don't be mistaken - this book is about Stephanie, from Stephanie's point of view. So in that case, it's fun, and I'm not sorry I read it, but the tone is decidedly casual. Like you're on the phone, saying "and THEN what happened, Steph?" and she tells you.
At the outset, young Stephanie is an idealistic go-getter, eager to serve in the White House and help Get Things Done. By the end, she is sick of the batshit and bullshit and is a burnt-out husk just hanging on out of a sense of loyalty to the First Lady, whom she has known for years.
Best line - referring to Trump's press strategy as a clown car on fire running at full speed into a warehouse full of fireworks.
2.5 stars
At the outset, young Stephanie is an idealistic go-getter, eager to serve in the White House and help Get Things Done. By the end, she is sick of the batshit and bullshit and is a burnt-out husk just hanging on out of a sense of loyalty to the First Lady, whom she has known for years.
Best line - referring to Trump's press strategy as a clown car on fire running at full speed into a warehouse full of fireworks.
2.5 stars
October 7, 2021
Full disclosure: I really dislike Donald Trump. I really am indifferent on Melania. If you are a fan of Donald Trump, you will not like this book. What I enjoyed about this books was her unique perspective of events, her reasons for accepting a job in the Administration - and staying in the job. I thought she was up front and honest about her regrets and mistakes. I have read other books about the administration, such as Peril. This book differs from others because it is more of a memoir. I am going to recommend it to a friend.
October 22, 2021
I thought it was entertaining, okay? And Grisham managed to make me feel some sympathy for her, and to soften my feelings toward Mrs. Trump. The press was, indeed, kind of ridiculous at times. This is a gossipy book and doesn't necessarily provide any new information, or at least important new information (no one may ever know why Melania wore that jacket), but it does shed some light on corners of the White House that most of us never see, and the nature of various jobs.
October 12, 2021
Would have, should have, could have Stephanie. While I get you were gaslighted and bullied for years, it took an insurrection for you to wake the F up. Telling all now doesn't excuse you being silent for six years and going along with the BS.
October 7, 2021
Just more proof
Excellent read. Enjoyable read. Another in the long line of books of personal experiences from the chaotic childish trump White House
Excellent read. Enjoyable read. Another in the long line of books of personal experiences from the chaotic childish trump White House
November 15, 2021
I did the audio version of this book, and Grisham is the narrator. First, we are expected to believe she performed three jobs perfectly and never dropped a ball. I guess this is possible when you are the White House Press Secretary and never hold a press conference. She does talk about how Trump never takes responsibility and anything that goes wrong is someone else's fault - this was something that Grisham learned well. Nothing new is really presented in the book unless you are wanting to know about her relationship with another staffer. It really seems like she was trying not to burn any bridges with Trump or Melania with these "tell-all" book, but had to put in a few jabs to make it sell. Rather than hiding out in Kansas she should be working with her political party to do what they can to prevent him from being their 2024 candidate.
November 23, 2021
I listened to the author narrate this book. I didn’t find it to be especially well-written and there really wasn’t any new revelations in the book. She writes her story as if she is thinking out loud (which is an interesting perspective). I did find her insights about Melanie Trump to be “new information” and appreciated her perspective. But overall, it just sounded like business as usual for Trump and for Washington.
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